Optimising low-pressure membrane pre-treatment for desalination

Australian Broiler abattoirs user on average 21.8L per bird, with over 44ML used daily industry wide. With plants often located in area with limited water supply and with the cost of water and water treatment increasing an opportunity exists for water treatment to be employed within the plant to reduce costs.

This project aims to asses the performance of ceramic membrane and to analyse water quality for water source from various unit operations within an abattoir. A pilot plant will be trialled at a NSW abattoir and the data generated will be used to quantify the economic, environmental and social impacts of implementing this technologyMoreover, the impact of the presence of algae in seawater on pre-treatment membranes will also be investigated. Not only the algae itself is expected to significantly affect the performance of the low-pressure membranes, but physical and chemical stresses on algae could also be responsible for the release of organic compounds with high fouling potential. In addition, some of those released extra-polymeric substances are expected to permeate through the pre-treatment and have a significant impact on the RO system. It is therefore crucial to understand and characterise the link between algae, physical and chemical stress and performance of the dual membrane systems used for desalination.