New pressurised and submerged ultrafiltration (UF) membranes designed for pretreatment prior to seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems were announced on 21 October 2013 by GE at the International Desalination Association’s World Congress in Tianjin, China.
The new technology includes GE’s ZeeWeed 1000 and ZeeWeed 1500 hollow-fiber membranes that provide a reduced plant footprint and lower installed cost than earlier ZeeWeed products. The new membranes offer a reduction in cost greater than 25% and a reduced footprint of 10-25%.
“GE offers a wide range of products for the desalination industry, and these new technological advancements to our ZeeWeed family work in tandem to maintain a highly efficient water treatment process,” said Yuvbir Singh, general manager, engineered systems–water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.
Immersed ZeeWeed 1000 UF membranes are ideal for larger treatment systems, where the footprint, energy and chemical savings are significant. The immersed design also aligns well with dissolved air flotation technology and directly couples to SWRO.
Pressurized ZeeWeed 1500 UF membranes are ideal for small-to-medium sized plants as they provide a packaged solution with quick delivery and installation.