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Membrane Water Treatment Volume 16, Number 3, May 2025 , pages 143-154 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/mwt.2025.16.3.143 |
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Characterization of filter materials in multimedia filtration for reverse osmosis desalination at the sorfert complex |
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Naoual Bensaad, Khadidja Benyahia, Boumediene Haddou, Nour E. Badrane and Hanane Badid
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| Abstract | ||
| The growing demand for high-quality freshwater makes seawater desalination essential. However, effective pretreatment is crucial to protect reverse osmosis membranes and ensure long-term efficiency. This study, conducted at the SORFERT complex, evaluates the performance of multimedia filtration by characterizing sand and Filtralite® Pure using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV spectroscopy. Results show that sand filtration led to increased turbidity (+3.1 NTU), suspended solids (+19 mg/L), and chemical oxygen demand (+12.28 mg/L). XRD analysis suggests structural modifications in the sand after filtration, while FTIR confirms Filtralite® Pure' superior adsorption capacity. The particle size distribution analysis reveals a shift in dominant particle sizes, highlighting the limitations of sand filtration. These findings demonstrate the importance of selecting optimal filter media to enhance seawater pretreatment for desalination. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| desalination; filtralite® FTIR; multimedia filtration; pretreatment; pure; reverse osmosis; sand; seawater quality; XRD | ||
| Address | ||
| Naoual Bensaad and Khadidja Benyahia: Department of Process and Materials Engineering, National Polytechnic School, Oran, Algeria/ Physics-Chemistry Laboratory of Catalysis and Environment Materials, USTO, Algeria Boumediene Haddou: Physics-Chemistry Laboratory of Catalysis And Environment Materials, USTO, Algeria/ Faculty of Chemistry, USTO, Algeria Nour E. Badrane: Department of Process and Materials Engineering, National Polytechnic School, Oran, Algeria Hanane Badid: Physics-Chemistry Laboratory of Catalysis and Environment Materials, USTO, Algeria | ||
