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Abstract

Tailings water contaminated with mining waste undergoes reverse osmosis (RO) treatment to make it safer for return to the environment. This RO system has experienced several performance issues, primarily related to fouling and scaling, resulting in low normalized permeate flow and cleanings every 1 to 2 weeks with generic cleaners. A third-party membrane autopsy was performed to understand the composition of the foulants. This paper will discuss the autopsy results in detail and also address the selection process of an appropriate specialty cleaner based on the composition of the foulants, their location, and the design of the plant. The performance recovery after cleaning with specialty high, low, and silica-specific cleaners will be discussed and compared to historical data from the system when cleaned with generic cleaners. For remote locations, such as this site, the selection of specialty cleaners is often influenced by several factors. While ergonomics, ease of use, extreme storage conditions, and transportation are seldom used as criteria for chemical selection, they were considered in this specific case during the chemical selection process.