ALADyR 2014 Presentation Dixon

Benefits of high flux thin-film
nanocomposite low surface area

reverse osmosis elements
Mike B. Dixon, David Kim-Hak, Manuel Galan and Warren
Casey.
LG NanoH2O - Overview
• Licensed original technology in 2005 from University of California,
Los Angeles
• Intellectual property includes 43 patents and patent applications
• Headquarters, manufacturing and R&D facility located in Los
Angeles, California, USA
• Approximately 100 employees
• Membranes installed in over 400 plants across 40 countries,
producing more than 300,000 cubic meters per day of fresh water
• In April 2014, LG Chem acquired NanoH2O
2
LG Chem - Overview
• LG Chem, founded in 1947, is ranked in the TOP 3 of the largest
chemical companies in Asia and 13th globally*
• Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, with annual revenues of $22
billion (USD)
• 22,000 employees across 30 global subsidiaries, representative
offices and R&D centers
• LG Chem is a market leader in film and coating technology with
mass production know-how
• LG NanoH2O will accelerate RO membrane product development,
production capacity and global commercial presence
*Source: ICIS (www.icis.com, 2013)
3
Company Timeline
Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Technology
 First RO membrane innovation in 25 years

 50-100% more permeable than existing polymer technology
 Improves best-in-class salt rejection
 Drop-in replacement for existing membranes
 16 Patents / 27 Applications in 11 Countries
5
Proven Technology
QuantumFlux Installations
QuantumFlux Product Line
Product Specifications Qfx SW 400 ES Qfx SW 400 R Qfx SW 400 SR
Permeate Flow Rate, m3/d (gpd) 52 (13,700) 34 (9,000) 24.6 (6,500)
Minimum NaCl Rejection, % 99.7 99.75 99.75
Stabilized NaCl Rejection, % 99.8 99.85 99.85
Active Membrane Area, m2 (ft2) 37 (400) 37 (400) 37 (400)
Feed Spacer, mil 28 28 28
Stabilized Boron Rejection: % 89 93 93
Performance differentiation of the

membrane enables
energy savings, OR flux increase, OR
enhanced water quality
La Chimba Desalination Plant -
Antofagasta, Chile
• Background:
• To increase plant capacity, AWT installed high flux thin-film nanocomposite
(TFN) elements in one existing train, and another manufacturer’s membranes
in five other existing trains.
• AWT also added three new 1,000 m3/d skids (provided through Xylem) each
equipped with 60 elements supplied by LG NanoH2O, Supplier B and Supplier
C and utilize the existing intake and pre-treatment systems.
• Pretreatment: 20 sand filters and 8 cartridge filters.
Study Objective:
• To assess the benefits of utilizing high flux 400 ft2 TFN SWRO elements in an
appropriate array compared to industry standard 440 ft2 element arrays
Pressure Vessel Array Comparison
• Flux 18.7 LMH (11 gfd) for LG NanoH2O Qfx Elements

• Flux 17 LMH (10 gfd) for Supplier B and C
Competitive Comparison - Pressure
• Utilizing high flux membranes appropriately, delivers significant
pressure savings over standard higher flux (9,900 gpd) membrane
array designs
• Percent Performance Deviation Based on Pumping Pressure

Required
% Deviation
Temp Supplier B Supplier C
14° C (57° F) 9.5% 8.3%
21° C (70° F) 5.2% 7.0%
Element Loading
Competitive Comparison
Supplier TFN Hybrid Supplier B Supplier C
Input
Est. RO Feed TDS ppm 36,105 36,105 36,105
Temp °C 20 20 20
Year of operation 0 0 0
Permeate m3/h (gpm) 39.9 (175.4) 39.6 (174.2) 39.4 (160)
Recovery based on flows 43.4% 43.3% 41.6%

Design
Element Specification 34m3/day, 99.75-99.85 37.5 m3/day 37.5 m3/day
Element Specification 52m3/day, 99.7-99.8 99.6-99.8% 99.5-99.8%

# PV per Stage 10 10 10
# Element per PV 6 6 6
Permeate Back Pressure Bar (psi) 1.4 (20) 1.4 (20) 1.4 (20)
Output
Est. Product TDS ppm 228 125 140
Feed Pressure Bar (psi) 46.7 (686) 52.3 (769) 54.4 (800)
Why is the permeate TDS higher?
• Feed solution becomes more concentrated along the pressure vessel and a greater salt
transport rate is experienced.
Qs = B x S x DC
DC = Cb – Cp
Salt transport rate (Qs)

Salt transport coefficient or B-value (B)
Surface area (S)
Change in Salt concentration (DC)
Feed salt concentration (Cb)

Permeate salt concentration (Cp).
• This shows that as more water permeates the membrane with a high flux element Cb increases
along the pressure vessel.
• To minimize this effect, the Qfx SW 400 ES has the highest possible element rejection at its
given flow (or the lowest possible B value).
La Chimba – LG NanoH2O Train
ERD Mix Issues

Summary
• LG NanoH2O has progressed from the lab scale to become a globally
recognized membrane manufacturer delivering low energy solutions for
major desalination plants
• Use of high flux membranes provided up to 14% improvement in feed

pressure over commonly used standard membrane array designs
• As expected, there is a trade-off between lower feed pressure and higher

permeate quality (due to high flux membranes) that meets specification
• Field results showed stable permeate production and normalized salt passage
without increase in differential pressure.
• Using 400 ft2 high flux elements in a hybrid design can lower pump pressure
compared to 440 ft2 standard flux elements

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Benefits of high flux thin-film

nanocomposite low surface area

*Source: ICIS (www.icis.com, 2013)

 First RO membrane innovation in 25 years

Performance differentiation of the

• Pretreatment: 20 sand filters and 8 cartridge filters.

• Flux 18.7 LMH (11 gfd) for LG NanoH2O Qfx Elements

• Percent Performance Deviation Based on Pumping Pressure

Recovery based on flows 43.4% 43.3% 41.6%

Element Specification 52m3/day, 99.7-99.8 99.6-99.8% 99.5-99.8%

Salt transport rate (Qs)

Feed salt concentration (Cb)

ERD Mix Issues

• Use of high flux membranes provided up to 14% improvement in feed

• As expected, there is a trade-off between lower feed pressure and higher

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