Commercial Reverse Osmosis and Membrane Separation Systems

This comprehensive course prepares technicians to operate, troubleshoot, and maintain commercial reverse osmosis and crossflow membrane filtration systems. Students examine the mechanics of semipermeable membranes, osmotic pressure principles, and essential upstream pretreatment requirements, including scale inhibition, dechlorination, and silt density index testing. Core coursework addresses operating parameters, hydraulic recovery, salt rejection, temperature correction factors, and normalized permeate flow calculations. Through hands-on practical exercises, students inspect pressure vessels, install spiral-wound elements, configure multi-stage arrays, and conduct clean-in-place procedures to remediate inorganic scaling and organic fouling. Additional topics include concentrate flow management, energy recovery devices, instrumentation calibration, and system sanitization. Technicians develop diagnostic skills to evaluate declining production, interpret differential pressure spikes, and execute preventative maintenance protocols that safeguard water quality and maximize membrane operating life across commercial facilities.

InstructorJacob Calhoun

Prerequisites

WTR 101

Course outline

Lectures, virtual labs, and graded assignments — completed in your browser.

01Lesson 1: Fundamentals of Osmosis, Osmotic Pressure, and Crossflow Filtrationlecture

02Lesson 2: Membrane Construction, Materials, and Spiral-Wound Element Architecturelecture

03Lesson 3: Pretreatment Requirements: Particulate Filtration, SDI, and Dechlorinationlecture

04Hands-on Lab: Silt Density Index (SDI) Testing and Pretreatment Cartridge Servicelab

05Lesson 5: Hydraulic Principles: Permeate Flux, Recovery Rate, and Mass Balancelecture

06Lesson 6: Pressure Vessel Anatomy, Array Staging, and Brine Seal Configurationlecture

07Lesson 7: System Instrumentation, Flow Measurement, and Conductivity Profilinglecture

08Hands-on Lab: Membrane Element Loading, Shimming, and Vessel Profilinglab

09Lesson 9: Fouling and Scaling Mechanisms: Biological, Colloidal, and Minerallecture

10Lesson 10: Clean-in-Place (CIP) Skid Design, Chemical Selection, and Wash Protocolslecture

11Hands-on Lab: Executing Clean-in-Place (CIP) Cycles and Effluent Neutralizationlab

12Lesson 12: Data Normalization, Performance Trending, and Fault Diagnosislecture

13Lesson 13: Permeate Post-Treatment, Storage Distribution, and Concentrate Disposallecture

14Capstone Service Project: Commercial RO System Commissioning, Audit, and Service Projectassignment

Syllabus

["Week 1: Lesson 1: Fundamentals of Osmosis, Osmotic Pressure, and Crossflow Filtration", "Week 2: Lesson 2: Membrane Construction, Materials, and Spiral-Wound Element Architecture", "Week 3: Lesson 3: Pretreatment Requirements: Particulate Filtration, SDI, and Dechlorination", "Week 4: Hands-on Lab: Silt Density Index (SDI) Testing and Pretreatment Cartridge Service", "Week 5: Lesson 5: Hydraulic Principles: Permeate Flux, Recovery Rate, and Mass Balance", "Week 6: Lesson 6: Pressure Vessel Anatomy, Array Staging, and Brine Seal Configuration", "Week 7: Lesson 7: System Instrumentation, Flow Measurement, and Conductivity Profiling", "Week 8: Hands-on Lab: Membrane Element Loading, Shimming, and Vessel Profiling", "Week 9: Lesson 9: Fouling and Scaling Mechanisms: Biological, Colloidal, and Mineral", "Week 10: Lesson 10: Clean-in-Place (CIP) Skid Design, Chemical Selection, and Wash Protocols", "Week 11: Hands-on Lab: Executing Clean-in-Place (CIP) Cycles and Effluent Neutralization", "Week 12: Lesson 12: Data Normalization, Performance Trending, and Fault Diagnosis", "Week 13: Lesson 13: Permeate Post-Treatment, Storage Distribution, and Concentrate Disposal", "Week 14: Capstone Service Project: Commercial RO System Commissioning, Audit, and Service Project"]