Abstract
The development of a new type of the reverse osmosis module is described in this paper. The module consists of bundle of 3 mm diameter flexible tubes, which are made of nylon fibers and covered by nylon net and coated with cellulose acetate membranes. These tubes can be easily made and has resistance to the pressure of upto 100 atm., which is sufficient for a one pass sea water desalination. The module is not sensitive to feed water turbidity can be opened, cleaned and repaired, and still has a compactness comparable to the spiral module.
First, the relation between heat treatment temperatures and permeabilities of water and solute was determined for each tube. Then, small modules of 13 tubes of 80 cm length were made and tested under various conditions. Finally, a larger module of 41 tubes was developed and tested. These modules showed excellent results, though some more improvements were necessary on the end seal, which tended to break at high pressure.
