reversing flow on membrane

[jrthe3]

we ben froze for couple days now so i ben doing some reading on leaders new ro. they have reversible flow on menbrane is that sap entering from oposite side on vessel i was thinking about setting my ro up with this would i need to put lip seals on both ends of my menbrane

[Sunday Rock Maple]

It's only available on units with 4 or more membranes and I think the reversal is in the sequence that the sap flows through each membrane, not the direction of flow.

[TunbridgeDave]

That's right, The only way to reverse the flow through the concentrate side of the membrane is to take it out of the vessel, move the brine seal to the other end and put it back in the other way. I think if you have a seal on both ends you would have an airlock in the space between the inside of the vessel and the outside of the membrane. Then the pressure my damage it.

[BreezyHill]

I don't see a benefit of changing the direction of the flow on a single mb; but if you have a series of mbs then you should see a benefit as the pressure and volume of flow will be less further down the series and get back some of your permeate flow...to a small extent.

My unit is old and is way over sized in the pressure pump. If I increase the pressure for a few minutes and have the flow on the concentrate at max I can flush the membrane to get back to rates at the start of the run for a while.

I had to talk with the Dow engeneers last year when I was passing sugar on xle mbs. It was very informative...he was more versed with salt removal and didn't even know of sap production. He was fascinated by what we want is the throw away product for him. I thought he died when I told him we dump the permeate. LOL

I would love to hear how one of these works in the field and if the reverse has any affect

Ben