Current trends and future prospects in the design of seawater reverse osmosis desalination technology

Seawater reverse osmosis technology is fully mature at industrial scale which has been installed in all coastal areas around the world with limited natural hydrological resources. There are many technological advances and innovations which are trying to improve the reverse osmosis desalination process. In particular, all pursue to reduce the process energy consumption, as well as to minimize the harmful effects of scaling and fouling on membranes and to obtain higher water flux membranes. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the main innovations and future trends in the design of seawater reverse osmosis desalination technology. These are intended to improve the process performance and the efficiency of this technique for high production. Special focus is placed on the use of renewable energies as an innovation in the medium-term for medium and large production capacities. It supports desalination with renewable energies as an attractive combination in many regions with the possibility of reducing stress on existing water supplies. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.