Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

A reverse osmosis desalination unit

Awwad J. Dababneha, M.A. Al-Nimrb*
Ergo Consultant, Dallas, TX, USA
Tel. +1 (979) 833-2676; Fax +1 (979) 833-2677; email: awwad@ti.com
b
Mechanical Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
Tel. +962 (2) 7201000; Fax +962 (2) 7095018; email: malnimr@just.edu.jo
a

Received 30 March 2002; accepted 15 April 2002

Abstract
A reverse osmosis desalination unit is proposed to desalinate seawater. The pressure required to overcome the
osmotic pressure and initiate the reverse osmotic process is provided by utilizing the mechanical potential energy
results from the difference in heads between a high level column of seawater and a low level column of purified
water. A mathematical model is proposed to simulate the proposed unit behavior under steady and transient conditions.
The effect of different operating and design conditions on the purified water production rate is investigated.
Keywords: Desalination; Reverse osmosis process; Seawater purification; Membrane separation process; Mass
diffusion; Fickian diffusion

1. Introduction
Until about 1980, distillation was the preferred
method for desalinating seawater, although two
membrane-based methods, electrodialysis and
reverse osmosis proved more economical for desalinating brackish water of much lower salinity
than seawater. Due to the development of sturdy
*Corresponding author.

desalination membranes for seawater desalination

and of efficient membrane plant technologies in
the last two decades, membrane plants have captured an increasing share of the seawater desalination market. By 1986, almost one-half of the
contracted desalination capacity for the international market was presented by reverse osmosis
(RO) plants; this included both brackish water and
seawater applications [14].

Presented at the EuroMed 2002 conference on Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries:
Cooperation between Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the Southern Rim of the Mediterranean.
Sponsored by the European Desalination Society and Alexandria University Desalination Studies and Technology
Center, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, May 46, 2002.
0011-9164/02/$ See front matter 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

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A.J. Dababneh, M.A. Al-Nimr / Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

The desalination of water by reverse osmosis

is a membrane separation process in which the
water from a pressurized saline solution is separated
from the solutes and flows through an appropriate
membrane. The permeate (the liquid flowing
through the membrane) is reduced in salt content
while the feed solution which is pressurized on
the other side of the membrane concomitantly
increases in salt content. As no heating or phase
change takes place, the major energy usage in the
process is that required to pressurize the feed.
In the literature, numerous works have investigated the performance of the classical RO desalination units [514] in which the head required to
overcome the osmotic pressure is obtained from
high-pressure pumps. These works involve both
theoretical and experimental investigations.
There are two basic types of mass-transport
mechanisms, which can take place in membranes [24]. In the first basic type, using tight
membranes, which are capable of retaining solutes
of about 10 in size or less, diffusion type transport
mainly occurs. Both the solute and the solvent
migrate by molecular or Fickian diffusion in the
polymer, driven by concentration gradients set up
in the membrane by the applied pressure difference.
In the second basic type, using loose, microporous
membranes which retain particles larger than 10 ,
a sieve-type mechanism occurs where the solvent
moves through the micropores in essentially viscous
flow and the solute molecules small enough to
pass through the pores are carried by convection
with the solvent.
As mentioned previously, the major energy usage
in the classical RO process is that required to pressurize the feed. This is usually done using large
scales, high-pressure pumps in order to produce
pressure up to 80 atm. In addition to the power
consumption of these high-pressure pumps, a lot
of mechanical problems are associated with them.
In the present work, a RO desalination unit is
proposed to desalinate seawater. The pressure
required to reverse the osmotic process and to
overcome the osmotic pressure is provided by
utilizing the mechanical potential energy results

from the differences in head between a high level

column of seawater and a low level column of
purified water. Power is required only to pump
purified water from the surface of the low level
column (purified water column) to its utilization
site. A mathematical model is proposed to simulate
the process under steady and transient conditions.
The effect of different operating and design conditions on the purified water production rate is
investigated.
2. Mathematical model
Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the proposed unit. The desalination unit consists of a pipe
with a semi-permeable membrane fitted at its
lower end. The tube is submersed in seawater to
a depth H, where H is deep enough to create
pressure on the membrane that is greater than the
osmotic pressure. As a result, solvent (purified
water) will flow throw the membrane and
accumulate inside the pipe. The level of the
solvent inside the pipe h depends on how deep
the pipe is submersed, the membrane characteristics and the difference in specific gravity of

Sea level
Pump
Seawater

Purified
water
2

Membrane

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the proposed unit.

A.J. Dababneh, M.A. Al-Nimr / Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

the purified water and the seawater. The system

will stabilize when the osmotic pressure is balanced
by the hydrostatic pressure generated by the
difference in the liquid level inside the pipe and
the liquid level outside it. However, h may be
maintained at a given fixed level by pumping
purified water from the tube at a given rate, equal
to the mass transfer throw the membrane.
To estimate the unit production rate, it is assumed
that diffusion type transport occurs through the
membrane. As a result, the steady state equations
governing the transport of solvent and of solute
are given as [2]:

W = N w (H h )g

267

(6)

The rate of financial gain (in $/m2 of the membrane) obtained using the desalination unit is
given as:
G = FN w (1 kg (H h ))

(7)

where F represents the price of selling a unit mass

of purified water (in $/kg) and k represents the
ratio of the pumping power cost (in $/J) to the
benefit obtained from selling unit mass of purified
water (in $/kg).

N w = Aw (P )

(1)

3. Transient behavior

N s = As (c1 c 2 )

(2)

Under transient operating conditions, when h

varies with time, the production rate of the unit is
related to h as:

Different parameters and their units are defined

in the nomenclature. The purification process is
best described by estimating the solute rejection
fraction R, where:
c
B (P )
R =1 2 =
c1 1 + B(P )

(3)

(4)

Sea is a very large reservoir and as a result, c1, 1

and other seawater properties are assumed constant during the purification process.
Now, inserting Eq. (4) into Eq. (1) yields the
following formula for the purified water production rate:
N w = Aw [0.097 rH 0.097 h ]

(8)

and as a result,

where B = Aw/Ascw2. The hydrostatic pressure difference P is given as:

P = P1 P2 = 1 H 2 h

N w dh
=
c w 2 dt

(5)

where r = 1/2. The number 0.097 is obtained

after expressing the purified water specific gravity
1 = 9810 N/m3 in units of atm. by dividing 1 by
101,000 Pa. The pumping power (in W/m3) required
to rise purified water from the tube to the sea level
is given as:

dh Aw
[0.097rH 0.097h ]
=
dt c w 2

(9)

Eq. (9) is integrated with the assumption that

h(0) = 0 to yield:
h(t ) =

2
1 e 1t
1

(10)

where
1 = 0.097 Aw/cw2, 2 = Aw/cw2 [0.097 rH ]
Now, insert h from Eq. (10) into Eq. (5) or
Eq. (8) to get an expression for the transient
purified water production rate of the unit.
4. Power consumption by the modified and
classical RO units
To produce the same flow rate of purified water
Nw , the classical RO power consumption is given
as:

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A.J. Dababneh, M.A. Al-Nimr / Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

N
W = 101 w
r

Nw

Aw

(11)

On the other hand, the power consumption of

the modified RO unit is given in Eq. (6). The ratio
of the. power consumption of the modified RO
unit Wm to. the power consumption of the classical
RO unit Wc is given, after lengthy manipulation, as:

r 1

Wm
H
=

h
Wc
r
H

(12)

1 [rH h] 101 103 [1 2 ]

5. Discussion of results
Many conclusions may be drawn from Eq. (12),
which is plotted in Fig. 2. The first conclusion is
the fact that the benefit of using the modified unit
increases as the specific gravity ratio r increases.
The modified unit consumes less power as
compared to the consumption of the classical unit
as the ratios r and (h/H) increase. As an example,
and for (h/H) = $0.9, the power consumption ratio
(Wm/Wc) is 0.55 for r = 1.1 and 0.4 for r = 1.2. As h
approaches H, the modified unit consumes no
power but in this case, the unit production rate
Nw is very small. As a result, the tube must be
1.2
1

Wm/Wc

0.8
0.6

r=1.05
r=1.1
r=1.2

0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

inserted to a deeper depth or the membrane must

have larger surface area in order to produce more
purified water.
For r approaching 1, both units consume the
same amount of power, since the ratio (12) approaches 1. Also, to produce the maximum purified
water rate by setting h = 0, the modified unit consumes the same amount of power as the classical
one.
The membrane fitted at the end of the tube
must be submersed to a depth H sufficient to overcome the osmotic pressure. The depth H must satisfy
the following inequality just to initiate the reverse
osmotic process:

0.4

0.6

0.8

h/H

Fig. 2. Effect of the depths ratio h/H on the power

consumption ratio Wm/Wc at different specific gravity ratios
r (Aw = 5104).

(13)

Consider, as an example, seawater contains

10% salt by weight. The corresponding osmotic
pressure at this salt concentration is 1 = 82.12
atm [2]. Assume that the purified water has no
salt content, and as a result, 1 = 0.0 atm. From
Eq. (13), one may find that H 769 m for h = 0,
H 939 m for h = 0.2H, H 1207.8 m for
h = 0.4H, H 1691 m for h = 0.6H, H 2818 m
for h = 0.0.8H, and H 8455 m for h = H.
Fig. 3 shows the effect of the tube insertion
depth H on the purified water production rate at
different heights of the purified water column. It
is clear that Nw is linearly proportional to H and
this is also clear from Eq. (5). As the height of the
purified water column h increases, the unit
production rate decreases due to the reduction in
the head, H-h, deriving the purification process
across the membrane. However, maintaining h at
lower level implies that more pumping power is
required to raise the purified water up to the sea
level. This pumping power is proportional to Hh. At H = h, the potential mechanical head
deriving the purification process comes from the
difference in the specific gravity between purified
and saline waters. The minimum depth H required
to initiate the desalination process increases as h
increases.

A.J. Dababneh, M.A. Al-Nimr / Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

0.7

0.5
0.4

r=1.05
r=1.1
r=1.075

1
0.8
Nw

Nw

1.2

h=0.0
h=1000
h=5000
h=10000

0.6

269

0.3
0.2

0.6
0.4

0.1

0.2

0
2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Fig. 3. Effect of saline water insertion depth H on the unit

production rate Nw at different purified water heads h
(r = 1.1, Aw = 5104, = 80).

Fig. 4 shows the effect of the specific gravity

ratio r = (1/2) on the unit production rate. In
general r has insignificant effect on Nw especially
at small saline water head H. At small H, the
production rate of the unit decreases slightly as r
increases. This is due to the increase in the osmotic
pressure 1, which is almost linearly proportional
to r. In the upper limit of H, the production rate
Nw increases as r increases. Here, the increase in
the saline water hydrostatic pressure, due to the
increase in its salt content, overcomes the increase
in the osmotic pressure of the saline water.
Increasing H more and more, for the same r, does
not affect the saline water osmotic pressure. On
the other hand, the weight of the heavy saline
water column increasing as H increases. This is
the reason why the differences among different
curves of different rs increase as H increases.
The effect of the purified water column height
h on the unit production rate is shown in Fig. 5
for different values of H. The relation between
Nw and h is a linearly decreasing relation as
verified from Eq. (5). It is clear that there is an
upper limit for h beyond which the unit production
rate drops to zero. In fact, further increase in h
reverse the purification process and the purified
water diffuses in the opposite direction through
the membrane from the purified water to the saline
water.
Figs. 35 show that the unit produces about
0.1 kg/m2s of purified water for H = 2000 m using

5000

10000

15000

20000

Fig. 4. Effect of saline water insertion depth H on the unit

production rate Nw at different specific gravity ratios r (h = 0,
Aw = 5104).

0.6
0.5
0.4
Nw

H=2000
H=5000
H=10000

0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0

500

1000

1500
h

2000

2500

3000

Fig. 5. Effect of purified water depth h on the unit production

rate Nw at different saline water heads H (r = 1.1, Aw = 5104,
= 80).

membranes of permeability Aw = 5104 kg/m2s.atm.

The unit production rate is linearly proportional
to Aw and may be increased by using membranes
of larger permeability.
The transient behavior of the unit is shown in
Figs. 6 and 7. Fig. 6 shows the transient variation
in h at different H. As H increases, more time is
required for h to attain its higher steady state level.
Studying the transient behavior of the unit is very
important because the unit needs many days to
reach its steady performance. This is due to the
small scale of the mass diffusion process through
the membrane. The transient production rate of

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A.J. Dababneh, M.A. Al-Nimr / Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

0.16

9000
8000
7000

0.12
0.1
G/F

6000
5000

h=0.0
h=1000
h=5000
h=10000

0.14

H=1000
H=5000
H=10000

0.08
0.06

4000

0.04

3000

0.02

2000

1000

5000

10000

0
0

10000000

20000000

30000000

40000000

Fig. 6. The transient behavior of the purified water column

h at different saline water insertion depths H (r = 1.1,
Aw = 5104, = 80).
1.2

Nw

0.8

0.4
0.2
0
10000000

20000000

30000000

25000

Fig. 8. Effect of saline

. water insertion depth H on the unit
net financial gain G/F at different purified water heads h
(r = 1.1, k = 1105, Aw = 5104, = 80).

H=

0.6

20000

of the unit. The optimum insertion

depth may be
.
obtained by setting (d/dH) (G/F) to zero. Differentiating Eq. (7) yields:

H=20000
H=10000
H=5000
H=1000

15000
H

Fig. 7. The transient behavior of the purified water

production rate Nw at different saline water insertion depths
H (r = 1.1, Aw = 5104, = 80).

the unit is shown in Fig. 7 at different H. This

figure shows that the process becomes slower as
H decreases but the steady behavior attained faster
due to the low steady level of Nw.
Fig. 8 shows the effect of .H on the rate of the
net financial gain given by G/F. For a fixed h,
there is an optimum H at which the net financial
gain is maximum. The location of this optimum
H depends on h, r and k. It is clear that the optimum
H increases
as h increases. Also, the maximum
.
gain G/F increases as h increases due to the reduction
in the pumping cost.
However, higher levels of h imply deeper
insertion depths, which imply higher initial costs

0.097 kg (1 + r )h + kg + 0.097 r
0.194kgr

(14)

This ratio shows that the optimum insertion

depth H is independent on the membrane property
Aw. If k is not so small, the third term 0.097 r may
be neglected as compared to the first two terms
0.097 kg (1 + r) h and kg . As a result, the ratio
(14) becomes:

H=

0.097(1 + r )h +
0.194r

(15)

which implies that the optimum depth H is

independent of k also.
6. Conclusions
A reverse osmosis desalination unit is proposed to desalinate seawater. The pressure
required to overcome the osmotic pressure and
initiate the reverse osmotic process is provided
by utilizing the mechanical potential energy
results from the difference in heads between a
high level column H of seawater and a low level
column h of purified water. It is found that the
unit production rate Nw is linearly proportional to

A.J. Dababneh, M.A. Al-Nimr / Desalination 153 (2002) 265272

the saline water head H and as the height of the

purified water head h increases, the unit production
rate decreases. The minimum depth H required
to initiate the desalination process increases as h
increases.
Also, it is found that the specific gravity ratio
r has insignificant effect on the unit production
rate Nw especially at small saline water head H.
The unit produces about 0.1 kg/m2s of purified
water for H = 2000 m using membranes of
permeability Aw = 5104 .kg/m2s.atm. The unit
production rate is linearly proportional to Aw and
may be increased by using membranes of larger
permeability.
The ratio of the. power consumption of the
modified RO unit Wm to the
. power consumption
of the classical RO unit Wc is derived.
From the derived ratio, it is found that the
modified unit consumes less power as compared
to the consumption of the classical unit as the ratios
r and h/H increase. For fixed h, here is an optimum
insertion depth H at which the net financial gain
is maximum. The location of this optimum H
depends on h, r and k. It is clear that the optimum
H increases
as h increases. Also, the maximum
.
gain G/F increases as h increases due to the reduction
in pumping cost. The optimum insertion depth H
is independent on the membrane property Aw
independent on k if k is not so small.
Symbols
As
Aw
c1
c2
cw2
F
g.
G

Solute permeability, m/s

Solvent permeability, kg/(m2s.atm)
Solute concentration in feed (concentrate) solution, kg/m3
Solute concentration in product (permeate) solution, kg/m3
Solvent concentration in product, kg/m3
Benefit obtained by selling unit mass
of purified water, $/kg
Gravitational acceleration, m/s2
Net rate of financial gain obtained from
selling the purified water per membrane
unit area, $/(m2.s)

h
H
k
Nw
Ns
P1
P2
r
R
t.
W

271

Height of the purified water column

above the membrane, m
Height of the saline water (seawater)
column above the membrane, m
Ratio of the consumed pumping power
cost to the benefit of selling purified
water, $/J, $/kg
Solvent (purified water) flux, kg/(s.m2)
Solute (salt) flux, kg/(s.m2)
Hydrostatic pressure of feed solution,
atm
Hydrostatic pressure of product solution,
atm
Specific gravity ratio, 1/2
Solute rejection factor
Time, s
Pumping power consumption, W/m2

Greek
1
2
P

1
2

Specific gravity of feed solution, N/m3

Specific gravity of product solution,
N/m3
Hydrostatic pressure difference P1 P2,
atm
Osmotic pressure difference 1 2, atm
Osmotic pressure of feed solution, atm
Osmotic pressure of product solution, atm

Subscripts
1
2

Feed solution properties

Product solution properties

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