Study of the influence of operating parameters on boron removal by a reverse osmosis membrane

Boron is a vital element for organism growth but excess of boron in water causes a problem due to its adverse effects on plants and humans. Hence, it is advisable to keep boron under specified harmless limits. However, removing boron from water is challenging. Also, it is not easily removed by a reverse osmosis membrane under natural conditions. In this paper, boron removal from aqueous solutions by the use of reverse osmosis membrane was investigated. The first objective of this work was to evaluate the characteristics of the AG-2514-TF (Osmonics) membrane used in boron permeation experiments. The next objective was to study the retention of boron by the AG membrane. The effect of several working parameters, such as pH, operating pressure, feed concentration, temperature, ionic strength, and other ions was studied in an attempt to achieve a higher removal capacity. The experimental results indicated that boron removal was dependent on the operating parameters. Indeed, boron can be effectively removed only at a pH of feed solution close to 11. To check the effectiveness of this process with the optimal operating parameters obtained, an application on underground water of Oued Bouthebane (Elfahs,Tunisia) was performed. Obtained results showed that the AG reverse osmosis membrane could be efficiently used (with 91.86% rejection) for the removal of boron from groundwater.