Development of Seawater Reverse Osmosis Configurations for Low- and High-Fouling Feedwaters: A Techno-Economic Review of FilmTec Membranes Performance

This work presents the most recent advancements and operational experiences obtained with the large-active-area, high-rejection FilmTec™ SW30HR-380 and SW30HR-320 reverse osmosis membrane elements, with particular focus on their techno-economic implications, especially regarding energy demand and potential operational cost reductions. The study also examines fouling prevalence and reviews the latest developments in technical mitigation strategies, with emphasis on the new wide-spacer SW30HR-320 elements designed for open-intake applications. Overall, the findings indicate that these new membrane products constitute an effective option for the design of seawater reverse osmosis systems treating both clean and fouling-prone feedwaters. The techno-economic evaluation demonstrates that the adoption of these elements can enable reductions of approximately 20% in capital expenditures, up to 25% in energy consumption, and up to 4% in cleaning-related costs—including downtime—when the SW30HR-320 is operated under high-fouling feedwater conditions.