SW30XHR Series: SW30XHR-400/34i Seawater RO Membrane

Different from ordinary seawater RO membranes, SW30XHR-400/34i optimizes the membrane molecular structure and surface properties, enhances salt rejection capacity and low-temperature flux stability, and can handle seawater with TDS up to 45000mg/L and temperature as low as 5℃. It adopts standard 8-inch modular design, equipped with iLEC interlocking end caps to reduce the risk of O-ring leakage and system operation costs, and can be directly matched with most large-scale seawater desalination systems without large-scale modification. The membrane element is vacuum-sealed and packaged with special protective solution (containing no more than 1.0% sodium bisulfite), ensuring stable performance during transportation and storage, and adapting to various seawater desalination environments such as coastal areas, offshore platforms and low-temperature marine regions.

2. Application Scenarios

Benefiting from its core advantages of ultra-high desalination rate and strong adaptability to high-salinity or low-temperature seawater, SW30XHR-400/34i has a wide range of applications, focusing on harsh seawater desalination scenarios. First, large-scale seawater desalination projects, which are suitable for coastal cities and water-scarce coastal areas, can efficiently treat high-salinity seawater, provide large-scale qualified fresh water for municipal water supply and industrial production, and alleviate water scarcity. Second, offshore platform water supply, which is applicable to offshore oil and gas platforms, can stably produce fresh water from high-salinity seawater, meeting the living and production water needs of platform personnel, without relying on onshore water supply. Third, coastal industrial water treatment, which is suitable for coastal chemical, power and other industries that use seawater as raw water, can remove salts and harmful substances in high-salinity seawater, providing qualified process water and reducing the impact of high salt content on production equipment. Fourth, low-temperature marine area water purification, which is applicable to polar regions, high-latitude coastal areas and other low-temperature marine environments, can maintain stable flux and ultra-high desalination rate even at 5-15℃, providing reliable fresh water for scientific research stations and coastal residents. In addition, it can also be used in emergency seawater desalination scenarios such as marine disasters, providing timely fresh water support.

3. Technical Parameters

The technical parameters of SW30XHR-400/34i are precisely optimized to fully reflect its core characteristics of ultra-high desalination rate and adaptability to high-salinity or low-temperature seawater, and the core parameters are as follows: the membrane material is high-crosslinking aromatic polyamide composite membrane, non-toxic and harmless, with excellent chemical stability and anti-pollution performance, and the service life can reach 3-5 years; the nominal desalination rate is ≥99.85%, the minimum desalination rate is ≥99.5%, the boron rejection rate is ≥90%, the organic matter rejection rate is ≥98.5%, and the produced water meets national industrial and drinking water standards; the recommended operating pressure is 5.5-6.5MPa, which is suitable for high-salinity seawater desalination systems; the operating temperature is 5-45℃ (stable operation at 5-15℃ low temperature), the inlet water pH value is 2-11 (cleaning pH value is 1-13), the inlet water Silt Density Index (SDI) is ≤5, and the inlet water turbidity is ≤1NTU; under standard conditions (25℃, 6.0MPa), the water production flux is 32-42m³/(m²·d); the single membrane recovery rate is 8-10%; the physical size is 8-inch standard size, the outer diameter × length is 8.0×40 inches, the dry weight is 22.5kg, and the effective membrane area is 37㎡; the cleaning cycle is 30-40 days, and the flux recovery rate after cleaning is ≥96%; the deviation range of water production is within ±15%, and the deviation range of effective membrane area is within ±3%.

4. Product Advantages

The core advantages of SW30XHR-400/34i are concentrated in ultra-high desalination rate and strong adaptability to high-salinity or low-temperature seawater, which accurately solve the key pain points of harsh seawater desalination. 

First, ultra-high desalination rate, the nominal desalination rate is as high as 99.85%, which can effectively remove salts, heavy metals, boron and other harmful substances in high-salinity seawater, ensuring that the produced water TDS is ≤500mg/L, meeting drinking and industrial water standards. 

Second, strong adaptability to high-salinity seawater, it can stably operate in seawater with TDS up to 45000mg/L, with small performance attenuation, solving the problem of insufficient desalination of traditional membranes in high-salinity environments. Third, excellent low-temperature adaptability, it can maintain stable flux and desalination rate at 5-15℃, without obvious flux decline, adapting to low-temperature marine environments. 

Fourth, stable performance and long service life, the high-crosslinking membrane material and optimized spiral wound structure reduce membrane pollution, extend the cleaning cycle, and the iLEC interlocking end cap design improves operation reliability, further extending the service life. 

Fifth, convenient installation and maintenance, the standard 8-inch modular design is compatible with most large-scale seawater desalination systems, and the iLEC interlocking end cap reduces leakage risks, making installation and replacement more convenient, and no professional technical personnel are required for basic operation, saving maintenance time and cost.

5. Application Procedures

Combined with years of practical experience, the application procedures of SW30XHR-400/34i are simple and standardized, which is convenient for users to operate, and special attention should be paid to pressure control and low-temperature adaptation during operation. Pre-installation preparation: Check the integrity of the membrane element, confirm that the surface, sealing ring and iLEC interlocking end cap are not damaged, and check that the protective solution is intact; clean the system pipeline, remove impurities such as rust and sediment, and prepare installation tools and monitoring instruments (especially salt content, temperature and pressure monitors). Membrane element installation: Install it into the 8-inch pressure vessel according to the instructions, ensure that the connection is tight and the direction is correct, the water inlet and outlet cannot be reversed, and install the sealing ring to prevent water leakage. System commissioning: Turn on the power and water source, adjust the pressure to 6.0MPa, adjust the flow rate to the recommended value, run the system for 30-60 minutes, and check whether the desalination rate, flux and other parameters are normal. Normal operation: Regularly monitor the pressure, flux, desalination rate, water temperature and water quality, and keep records. If the pressure increases by 0.2MPa or the flux decreases by 20%, clean it in time. Membrane cleaning: According to the pollution type, prepare a special cleaning solution (acidic or alkaline), circulate and clean at 25-35℃ for 30-60 minutes, rinse with clean water until neutral, then restart. Daily maintenance: After the system is shut down, rinse the membrane element for 5-10 minutes, regularly check the sealing ring and iLEC interlocking end cap, and properly store it in the protective solution when not in use for a long time; avoid long-term contact with strong oxidants such as residual chlorine to prevent membrane damage.

6. Quality Standards

SW30XHR-400/34i strictly follows the dual international and domestic quality standards to ensure reliable and stable product performance, especially meeting the requirements of harsh seawater desalination. Internationally, it follows the ISO 9001 quality management system, ASTM D4516 test method and ISO 20466:2024 performance classification guidelines; domestically, it complies with GB/T 30307-2013 "Reverse Osmosis Membrane Elements for Water Treatment", GB/T 5749-2022 "Sanitary Standards for Drinking Water" and HJ/T 270-2006 "Technical Requirements for Environmental Protection Products - Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Equipment". Core quality requirements: The membrane material meets food-grade standards, no harmful substances are leached; the nominal desalination rate is ≥99.85%, the boron rejection rate is ≥90%, the flux recovery rate after cleaning is ≥96%, and each unit is subjected to 30 minutes of stable testing before leaving the factory; the membrane can withstand a maximum pressure of 8.28MPa (1200psi), no deformation or water leakage, and the maximum pressure drop is ≤1.0bar (14.5psi); the desalination performance and adaptability to high-salinity and low-temperature seawater reach the advanced level of the industry, and it can operate stably in harsh seawater environments for a long time; each batch of products has a unique production batch number and test report, which is fully traceable.

7. Working Principle

SW30XHR-400/34i realizes efficient seawater desalination, ultra-high desalination rate and stable operation in harsh environments based on the reverse osmosis principle, combined with high-crosslinking membrane material technology, optimized spiral wound structure and low-temperature adaptive design. Osmosis is a natural phenomenon in which water molecules spontaneously flow from a low concentration solution to a high concentration solution. Reverse osmosis applies a pressure greater than the osmotic pressure (5.5-6.5MPa) on the high concentration side (raw water side, i.e., seawater side), forcing water molecules to pass through the semi-permeable membrane to the low concentration side (produced water side), while retaining salts, heavy metals, boron, organic matter and other harmful substances. The high-crosslinking aromatic polyamide composite membrane adopted by this model has a dense structure and a pore size of only 0.1-0.2 nanometers, which only allows water molecules to pass through, ensuring ultra-high desalination rate. The optimized spiral wound structure makes the water flow evenly distributed on the membrane surface, generating a gentle scouring force to wash away attached pollutants, delaying membrane fouling. The low-temperature adaptive technology optimizes the membrane molecular activity, ensuring stable flux and desalination rate at low temperatures, while the iLEC interlocking end cap design enhances system reliability and reduces leakage risks.

8. Future Prospects

With the increasing global water scarcity and the continuous expansion of seawater desalination projects, SW30XHR-400/34i, with its core advantages of ultra-high desalination rate and strong adaptability to high-salinity or low-temperature seawater, has broad development prospects. In the future, this model will be intelligently upgraded, integrating Internet of Things and sensor technology to realize real-time monitoring of water quality, membrane performance, temperature and pressure, and automatic reminder of cleaning and maintenance, which is in line with the development trend of intelligent water treatment. It will also continuously optimize the membrane material and structural design, further improve the desalination rate and low-temperature adaptability, expand the applicable TDS range of seawater, and reduce energy consumption when used with energy recovery systems. At the same time, it will expand application scenarios to new energy, marine engineering and other emerging fields, promote the recycling of seawater resources, improve the recycling rate of waste membranes, and reduce environmental pollution. In addition, it will provide one-stop services, covering product supply, installation and commissioning, maintenance and technical guidance, to further improve user experience and meet the diverse needs of harsh seawater desalination projects.

9. Conclusion

As the core model of the SW30XHR series seawater RO membrane with ultra-high desalination rate and adaptability to high-salinity or low-temperature seawater, SW30XHR-400/34i takes high-crosslinking aromatic polyamide composite membrane as the core and optimized spiral wound structure as the support, integrating low-temperature adaptive technology and iLEC interlocking end cap design. It effectively solves the pain points of traditional seawater RO membranes such as insufficient desalination rate, poor low-temperature adaptability and unstable operation in high-salinity environments. Its quality meets international and domestic standards, adapts to various harsh seawater desalination scenarios, can efficiently remove salts, boron and other harmful substances in high-salinity and low-temperature seawater, ensure stable and qualified fresh water production, and provide reliable support for alleviating water scarcity and promoting marine resource utilization. With the continuous optimization of technology, SW30XHR-400/34i will play a more important role in the field of seawater desalination, helping to promote the green, efficient and sustainable development of the water treatment industry.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What is the core function of SW30XHR-400/34i? 

A1: The core function is to realize efficient seawater desalination through the reverse osmosis principle, with the characteristics of ultra-high desalination rate and strong adaptability to high-salinity or low-temperature seawater, which can effectively retain salts, heavy metals, boron and other harmful substances in seawater, and provide stable and qualified fresh water in harsh marine environments.

Q2: What is the service life of SW30XHR-400/34i, and how to extend it? 

A2: The service life is 3-5 years under normal maintenance. Regularly clean the membrane element according to the fouling situation, keep the operating parameters stable, avoid long-term contact with strong oxidants, check and replace the damaged sealing ring and iLEC interlocking end cap in time, and properly store it in the protective solution when not in use for a long time, which can extend the service life.

Q3: What is the applicable TDS range of SW30XHR-400/34i? 

A3: It is mainly applicable to seawater with a TDS of 35000-45000mg/L, which can adapt to slight fluctuations in salt content, and is suitable for most marine environments such as coastal areas and offshore platforms.

Q4: What should I do if the desalination rate decreases during operation? 

A4: First, check whether the inlet water TDS, temperature and pH value are abnormal; second, check whether the membrane is fouled, and clean the membrane element in time with a special cleaning solution; finally, check whether the operating pressure is within the recommended range, and adjust it in time to ensure stable desalination performance.

Q5: Is special pretreatment required for SW30XHR-400/34i? 

A5: It is recommended to carry out targeted pretreatment according to the seawater quality. For seawater with high suspended solids and colloids, filter to remove impurities; for seawater containing residual chlorine, carry out dechlorination treatment to avoid damaging the membrane; the pretreatment can be matched with conventional equipment without additional investment, which can further extend the service life of the membrane and ensure stable operation in harsh environments.