What is Reverse Osmosis in Pharmaceutical Purified water system?

by

Reverse
Osmosis; 

In continuation to series of articles on Pharmaceutical Purified Water system, here we will discuss and have
basic knowledge on one of the important Component of Pharmaceutical Purified
Water generation system for manufacturing of Drug substance and drug products.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is one of the efficient system / component for the
generation of pharmaceutical purified water / Process water this is being
frequently employed in pharmaceutical Industry to get the desired quality /
Processed water to achieve the acceptance criteria established by Various Regulatory bodies.

Let’s have Few Q’s and A’s on
Reverse osmosis…………

What
is Reverse Osmosis?

If we discuss the entire Pharmaceutical Process water generation system
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Unit is one of the major and important component, which
Works on the Principle of Reverse Osmosis process.

“As the name indicates…, it is a reverse process of osmosis. In Normal
Osmosis process solvent moves from higher concentration to lower concentration”

In Reverse Osmosis a substantial pressure difference is created among
the semipermeable membrane to force the solvent to move from lower
concentration to higher concentration side.

Reverse Osmosis in Pharmaceutical Purified water system
Figure-01 : Reverse Osmosis

What Type of membrane used in Reverse Osmosis (RO) system/Unit?

Semipermeable membrane is the part of the RO Unit to filter the Feed water to remove contaminants from the feed water. The RO membranes are the heart of the RO unit.

This Semipermeable membrane is made up of “Cellulose Acetate”
this membrane has the capability of removing up to 99%+ of the dissolved salts
(ions), particles, colloids, organics, bacteria and pyrogens from the feed
water. This membrane has pore size of 0.01 micron to 0.0001 micron.

What is Reverse Osmosis

Figure-02 : Semipermeable membrane

What
is significance of Reverse Osmosis (RO) system in purified water generation
system?

This filtration method being applied for the generation of Purified water
and removes contaminants from the feed water with the help of semipermeable membrane.

RO filtration process is very much signified operation in purified water
generation system, as this filtration operation has the capability of removing
up to 99%+ of the dissolved salts (ions), particles, colloids, organics,
bacteria and pyrogens from the feed water.

As compare to normal carbon filtration process it is more efficient as
carbon filtration can removes the articles as small as 1 micron, whereas RO
unit has the capability to remove the articles ranges from 0.01 micron to
0.0001 micron.

  • Total dissolved solids reduction: Reverse
    osmosis is one of the rare water treatment processes that can boast a total
    dissolved solids reduction. The few other treatment methods with this
    capability are often less efficient than reverse osmosis.
  • Cost-effectiveness: Reverse osmosis is
    popular in industrial usage because it is very economical compared with
    alternative filtration methods. It allows plants to treat large volumes of
    water while remaining comfortably within their established budgets.

  • Eco-friendliness: Compared with other treatment
    methods, reverse osmosis is also relatively environmentally friendly. It uses
    less energy than other methods like thermal distillation because it does not
    rely on energy generation. 
  • Alkalinity and hardness removal: Reverse osmosis
    removes the calcium and magnesium ions that contribute to hard water, as well
    as the carbonate ions that contribute to unwanted alkalinity.

What
are the key components of the RO Unit?

Major Key components of RO Unit are;

Reverse Osmosis Unit Component

Figure-03 : Reverse Osmosis Unit Component

  1. Water Pump: The reverse
    osmosis process requires a force to pass the water through the membrane known
    as driving force. This force is applied in the form of pressure with the
    help of pumps.

  2. Semipermeable Membrane Unit:
    This Semipermeable membrane is made up of “    Cellulose Acetate” this
    membrane has the capability of removing up to 99%+ of the dissolved salts
    (ions), particles, colloids, organics, bacteria and pyrogens from the feed
    water. This membrane has pore size of 0.01 micron to 0.0001 micron.

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