A cloud solution is being developed for a large-scale reverse osmosis plant that allows the water supplier to normalize its own operating data and retrieve recommendations to optimize operation.
Reverse osmosis plants are increasingly being used in waterworks for public drinking water supply. The aim of using reverse osmosis in waterworks is usually the softening of drinking water or the removal of neutral salts such as nitrate or sulfate. The prerequisite for optimal and trouble-free operation of reverse osmosis plants is the correct interpretation of operating data. This includes pressures, flows and indicator parameters for water quality such as electrical conductivity and pH value. These parameters must be converted to a reference point. This process is known as normalization. This takes well known physical effects into account, such as the increase in operating pressure with decreasing raw water temperature, caused by changes in the viscosity of the water. Data normalization is a prerequisite for correct interpretation of operating data. To date, data normalization has often been carried out by the water supplier by manually transferring the operating data from the control system to an Excel sheet provided by the membrane manufacturer. The personnel effort required for this is relatively high. In addition, experience and specialist knowledge are required for interpretation.
As component of a sub-project, a cloud solution is to be designed that supports waterworks in the operation of reverse osmosis systems. For this purpose, the operating data of the reverse osmosis system is to be transferred to a cloud. In the cloud, the operating data are first normalized. This is used to monitor the operating status of the reverse osmosis system. The operator can log into the cloud at any time and call up current evaluations on a dashboard. The status of the reverse osmosis system can be interpreted on the basis of the normalized operating data. This includes monitoring the functionality of system components, such as antiscalant dosing pumps. In addition, it is planned to develop suitable algorithms based on the normalized operating data. These provide information about future maintenance measures (predictive maintenance), which the operator can use to plan future operations. This includes, for example, the remaining time until chemical cleaning (CIP) or membrane replacement.
In addition to reverse osmosis systems, the cloud solution is also suitable for nanofiltration systems. The cloud solution is designed in such a way that, in the future, the operating data from micro- and ultrafiltration systems can also be evaluated via the cloud.
