ORP 101:

Do we really need OPR meters at RO?

RO Performance Parameters
Parameter Conductivity Indicates salt rejection performance of the membrane pH Significance High value Needs to be high enough to reduce the contaminant level in the feed water The higher the pH and calcium, the more likely it is that scale will form on the membranes Need for better pre-treatment Low value Bad membrane condition; may indicate membrane breakage with silicon based compounds, a low pH will increase the tendency for scaling Presence of biological activity that can cause fouling

Used in determining the membrane life and scaling potential of feed water
ORP Determine the activity of oxidizers

It is often useful to check quality of reject water where the concentration is highest.
Reference: Membrane and Desalination Technologies

Why are there ORP meters in RO systems?

At no time should there be a Free Chlorine or

Oxidant residual in the feed water. Even very low levels of chlorine or other oxidants in the feed stream can result in irreparable oxidation damage of the RO membrane. The oxidative effects of Free Chlorine are strongly catalyzed in the presence of transition metals such as Fe and Mn. To ensure that membranes are not harmed by oxidant, ORP meters are recommended.

Reference: http://www.membranes.com/docs/tsb/tsb105.pdf

Why are there ORP meters at PWTP?

the ORP meter reading should always be below

300 mV. If the ORP value reaches 350 mV, the plant should be shut down until the oxidant concentration can be reduced to a safe value (ORP < 300 mV) At PWTP, operational RO skid with ORP 300 mV shuts down automatically.

OXIDATION REDUCTION POTENTIAL

an indication of a solution's ability to oxidize or

reduce another solution It is a ratio of oxidized species to reduced species in a solution containing both. measure of electron activity ORP electrodes measure the redox potential according to the Nernst half-cell potential equation:
= 0 +
2.3

Reference: www.vl-pc.com/index.cfm/technical-info/orp-theory/

OXIDATION REDUCTION POTENTIAL

OXIDIZERS
Chlorine Ozone Sodium hypochlorite Hydrogen peroxide
bromine

REDUCTANTS
Sodium bisulfite Sulfur dioxide Sodium sulfate Sodium hyposulfate

An overfeed of sodium bisulfite can be determined by using ORP (<200mV)

Reference: www.vl-pc.com/index.cfm/technical-info/orp-theory/