SW30HR-380 seawater reverse osmosis membrane is a premium 8-inch high-rejection SWRO element matched with SW30HRLE-440i and SWC5-LD industrial desalination modules, delivering 99.7% stable salt rejection and ultra-high boron interception to meet WHO drinking water standards. Equipped with 35㎡ large active membrane area and 28mil wide feed spacer, this dry-type polyamide TFC membrane resists organic & biological fouling, supports wide pH cleaning range 1–13, cuts long-term operation cost for municipal seawater desalination, offshore platform water making and high-salinity brine recovery projects. It solves core pain points of low water yield, poor boron removal and frequent membrane replacement of traditional seawater RO elements, becoming a mainstream alternative for large-scale desalination system integrators worldwide.
SW30HR-380 High Rejection Seawater RO Membrane For Large Desalination Plants
SW30HR-380 seawater reverse osmosis membrane is a premium 8-inch high-rejection SWRO element matched with BW30HR LE brackish water membrane and industrial desalination modules, delivering 99.7% stable salt rejection and ultra-high boron interception to meet WHO drinking water standards. Equipped with 35㎡ large active membrane area and 28mil wide feed spacer, this dry-type polyamide TFC membrane resists organic & biological fouling, supports wide pH cleaning range 1–13, cuts long-term operation cost for municipal seawater desalination, offshore platform water making and high-salinity brine recovery projects. It solves core pain points of low water yield, poor boron removal and frequent membrane replacement of traditional seawater RO elements, becoming a mainstream alternative for large-scale desalination system integrators worldwide.
Product Description
When browsing global water treatment supply platforms, most system integrators, desalination plant contractors and industrial water engineering buyers search for high boron rejection seawater RO membrane, 8-inch dry SWRO element and 380 sq ft high flow desalination membrane to upgrade outdated BW30HR LE brackish water membranes and low-efficiency standard seawater elements. The SW30HR-380 fills the market gap between low-yield conventional seawater membranes and ultra-large-area high-end SWRO models, positioned as a cost-performance premium grade seawater reverse osmosis element specially developed for medium and large-scale high-salinity raw water treatment projects.
This membrane adopts full dry packaging technology different from conventional wet-preserved RO membranes, eliminating the risk of preservation liquid failure during long-term overseas ocean transportation and cross-border inventory storage. Its core polyamide thin-film composite structure is optimized for 32,000ppm standard seawater salinity environment, with a rated permeate flow of 6,900GPD under test conditions, active membrane area up to 380 square feet (35 square meters). Compared with small-area 34mil spacer seawater membranes, the 28mil thick feed channel balances anti-fouling performance and hydraulic loss, avoiding excessive pressure rise after long-term continuous operation.
Targeted at global end users including municipal water authorities, offshore oil & gas platforms, island resort water plants and industrial brine recycling factories, SW30HR-380 focuses on solving three universal industry pain points: insufficient boron removal failing drinking water standards, frequent chemical cleaning caused by narrow flow channels, and short service life leading to high annual membrane replacement expenditure. It is compatible with standard 8-inch pressure vessels, can be combined with multi-stage SWRO systems paired with PROC10 pretreatment cartridge filters and antiscalant dosing systems, and perfectly matches the design parameters of mainstream international desalination equipment brands without extra pipeline modification.
Working Principle
The core filtration logic of SW30HR-380 seawater RO membrane relies on the thin-film composite polyamide selective separation layer, which breaks the natural osmosis balance of high-salinity seawater through external high-pressure driving force to realize salt-water separation. Different from ultrafiltration and microfiltration filters that rely on physical pore interception, seawater reverse osmosis adopts solution-diffusion separation mechanism, which can intercept dissolved inorganic salt ions, boron compounds, suspended solids, colloids and microbial flora in seawater at molecular level.
High-salinity seawater enters the feed side of the membrane element along the 28mil wide feed spacer under the push of high-pressure booster pump. The cross-flow hydrodynamic design of the spacer continuously scours the membrane surface to reduce the accumulation of scaling ions and organic pollutants. Under 800psi standard operating pressure, water molecules pass through the dense polyamide separation layer and flow into the central permeate collection tube to form fresh permeate water; salt ions, borate and other harmful substances are blocked on the raw water side and discharged out of the element with concentrated brine.
The multi-leaf short membrane sheet structural design of SW30HR-380 evenly distributes the water flow pressure on each membrane surface, avoiding local over-flux pollution concentration which commonly exists in single long-leaf RO elements. After 24–48 hours of continuous operation, the polyamide layer forms a stable compact filtration surface, reaching the nominal stabilized salt rejection rate of 99.7%. The whole separation process does not require heating or phase change, greatly cutting energy consumption compared with thermal distillation seawater desalination technology, and the physical separation mechanism will not introduce secondary chemical pollutants into produced fresh water.
Technical Features
1. Ultra-high active membrane area configuration
Equipped with 380 sq ft (35㎡) effective filtration area, single element permeate flow reaches 6,900GPD under standard test conditions. Compared with 340sq ft small-area seawater RO elements, it reduces the total quantity of membrane elements required for the same daily water output, lowers equipment footprint and membrane shell procurement cost for new desalination projects.
2. Premium high boron & salt rejection polyamide film layer
Stabilized sodium chloride rejection rate up to 99.7%, minimum guaranteed salt rejection 99.65%. The optimized surface charge modification technology greatly improves interception efficiency of borate ions, enabling permeate boron content to meet WHO drinking water limit without secondary boron removal resin treatment, simplifying post-treatment process flow.
3. 28mil thick wide feed spacer anti-fouling design
Adopts 28mil thick corrugated feed spacer, wider flow channel than compact 20mil spacer seawater membranes. The increased cross-section flow area weakens concentration polarization effect on membrane surface, slows down the growth rate of differential pressure during long-term operation, and improves the cleaning recovery efficiency after CIP chemical washing.
4. Dry-type non-expiration storage packaging
Cancel wet preservation liquid filling, whole dry delivery without shelf life limit. For cross-border bulk export customers, no regular replacement of preservation solution during long-term warehouse storage, cutting inventory maintenance labor and chemical consumable cost, and avoiding membrane performance damage caused by preservation liquid deterioration during long-distance shipping.
5. Wide-range acid & alkali cleaning tolerance
Continuous operation pH range 2–11; short-term chemical cleaning allows pH 1–13 within 30 minutes. Compatible with common acidic citric acid cleaning agents and alkaline sodium hydroxide cleaning solutions on the market, no special neutral maintenance chemicals required, flexible matching on-site existing cleaning system formula.
Product Advantages
1. Lower total ownership cost throughout service cycle
High single-element water yield reduces the number of pressure vessels and high-pressure pumps required for system construction, cutting initial capital investment. High salt & boron rejection eliminates secondary deep purification equipment, and slow fouling rate extends CIP cleaning cycle, reducing chemical reagent consumption and system downtime loss; dry storage greatly reduces overseas inventory management cost, forming comprehensive cost advantages over medium-standard seawater RO elements.
2. Stable long-term performance without oxidative post-treatment
No oxidative oxidant treatment applied during membrane production, the polyamide separation layer will not produce irreversible oxidative aging under long-term high-pressure seawater flushing. Many competitive seawater membranes adopt post-oxidation process, which will gradually decline salt rejection after 2–3 years of operation; SW30HR-380 maintains stable separation performance within 3–7 years of service life under standard pretreatment conditions.
3. Strong adaptability to complex offshore & island raw water
Suitable for raw water salinity ranging from 25,000ppm to 38,000ppm, matching natural seawater, island underground brackish seawater and concentrated brine from primary desalination systems. The fiberglass pressure-resistant outer shell resists high pressure up to 1,200psi, adapts to fluctuating feed pressure of offshore mobile desalination equipment, and has strong tolerance to SDI 5 raw water containing trace suspended pollutants.
4. Simplified global cross-border logistics & stocking
Dry packaging reduces single-element weight by 12% compared with wet membrane elements, lowering ocean freight expense for bulk orders. No preservation liquid leakage risk during container transportation, customs inspection clearance efficiency is higher; unlimited storage period supports distributors to establish safety stock in overseas warehouses without worrying about overdue scrapping of inventory.
5. Standard universal size compatible with global mainstream desalination equipment
Standard 8-inch × 40-inch industrial universal dimension, consistent with the installation size of all international mainstream SWRO pressure vessel brands. No customized mechanical accessories required for equipment replacement, maintenance personnel can directly complete element replacement operation without special training, reducing after-sales maintenance technical threshold for system integrators.
Application Fields
1. Municipal large-scale seawater desalination plants
Global coastal municipal water supply projects are the core application scenario of SW30HR-380. Its high boron removal performance meets unified drinking water standards of EU, Middle East Gulf countries and Southeast Asian coastal cities, and large single-element water yield effectively reduces the number of membrane racks in large-scale centralized desalination stations, widely used in coastal urban tap water upgrading and new water resource expansion projects.
2. Offshore oil, gas and marine platform mobile water making systems
Offshore fixed platforms and floating production storage vessels require compact, stable and low-maintenance SWRO elements. The dry packaging avoids preservation liquid failure caused by long-term marine storage, wide anti-fouling spacer reduces frequent maintenance at sea, and high pressure resistance adapts to the limited space high-pressure water making equipment on offshore platforms.
3. Island resort & remote island resident water supply projects
Remote islands lack fresh water resources, most raw water is underground brackish seawater with unstable salinity. SW30HR-380 wide salinity adaptability and long storage cycle support bulk centralized stocking on islands, high water yield reduces the overall equipment volume of small and medium-sized island desalination stations, suitable for tourism island resorts and remote island resident living water supply.
4. Industrial high-salinity brine recycling & zero liquid discharge projects
Chemical, mining and power plant production wastewater will form high-salinity concentrated brine after primary treatment. SW30HR-380 ultra-high salt rejection can recover reusable fresh water from brine, reduce brine discharge treatment volume, match factory zero liquid discharge (ZLD) environmental protection transformation projects, lower industrial wastewater discharge cost.
5. Coastal aquaculture & marine park fresh water preparation
Marine aquaculture base and coastal marine ecological park need low boron, low TDS fresh water for fry breeding and landscape water replenishment. SW30HR-380 stable permeate water quality avoids mineral imbalance affecting aquatic organism survival, dry-type membrane is convenient for aquaculture base seasonal batch stocking without seasonal scrapping risk.
FAQs
Q1: What is the core difference between SW30HR-380 and wet-type seawater RO membranes in storage management?
A1: SW30HR-380 adopts full dry production without preservative liquid filling, there is no fixed shelf life limit, and distributors can store goods in overseas warehouses for more than 3 years without performance attenuation. Wet membranes need to inspect and replace preservation solution every 12 months, once the solution deteriorates, the membrane separation performance will drop sharply, and long-distance sea transportation also faces the risk of liquid leakage and customs detention.
Q2: Can SW30HR-380 meet the drinking water boron standard without secondary boron removal equipment?
A2: Yes, the optimized polyamide surface modification technology greatly improves borate ion interception efficiency, under standard seawater test conditions, permeate boron content is lower than 0.5mg/L WHO limit, municipal desalination projects can cancel secondary boron removal resin tank to reduce system investment and occupied space.
Q3: What is the recommended service life of SW30HR-380 under standard pretreatment operating conditions?
A3: When the raw water SDI is controlled below 5, regular monthly CIP cleaning and stable pH operation between 2–11, the service life can reach 3–7 years. If the pretreatment system is equipped with PROC10 security filter and continuous antiscalant dosing, the membrane replacement cycle can be extended to 6–7 years.
Q4: Is SW30HR-380 compatible with all international standard 8-inch SWRO pressure vessels?
A4: The product adopts standard 8-inch × 40-inch industrial universal size, matching all mainstream international membrane shell brands including DuPont, Hydranautics and local regional manufacturers, no customized gaskets, end caps or connecting accessories are required during replacement.
Q5: What raw water salinity range is SW30HR-380 suitable for stable operation?
A5: The optimal stable operation salinity range is 25,000ppm to 38,000ppm, covering natural open seawater, island underground brackish seawater and concentrated brine from primary SWRO systems. It can temporarily withstand short-term raw water salinity up to 42,000ppm, but long-term operation over 40,000ppm will accelerate membrane fouling and shorten service cycle.
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