Etude expérimentale et optimisation des performances du procédé d’osmose Inverse pour le dessalement d’eau de mer

Abstract

The growing demand for freshwater, combined with climate change and the depletion of conventional water resources, has made seawater desalination an essential solution for ensuring water security. Among the available desalination technologies, reverse osmosis (RO) has emerged as the most efficient and widely adopted process due to its high salt rejection, relatively low energy consumption, and economic feasibility. The présent study focuses on the experimental evaluation of a reverse osmosis desalination system using a laboratory-scale pilot unit. A comprehensive bibliographic review was first conducted to present the principles of seawater desalination, the different desalination technologies, membrane characteristics, operating parameters, membrane fouling mechanisms, recent technological developments, and the status of desalination in Algeria, with particular emphasis on the Béni Saf desalination plant. The expérimental investigation aimed to asses the influence of transmembrane pressure and operating time on the performance of the reverse osmosis process. The system performance was evaluated through permeate production and membrane behavior under different operating conditions. The obtained results showed that increasing the operating pressure improves permeate flux and desalination efficiency, while prolonged operation may reduce membrane performance because of fouling and concentration polarization. This work highlights the importance of optimizing operating conditions to improve the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of reverse osmosis desalination systems. The findings contribute to a better understanding of membrane-based desalination processes and provide useful guidance for improving the performance of seawater desalination technologies.