Desalination 221 (2008) 298–302

Water produce for pharmaceutical industry: role of reverse osmosis stage
M. Belkacema*, K. Bensadoka, A. Refesb, P.M. Charvierb, G. Nezzala a University of Sciences and Technology of H. Boumediene, F.G.M.G.P. Laboratory of Process and Environmental Engineering, B.P. 32 El Alia 35111 Algiers, Algeria Tel./Fax +213 21 24 71 69; email: belkacemed@yahoo.fr b Veolia Water Région Centre Est 69153 Décines Cedex, France
Received 19 December 2006; accepted 3 January 2007

Abstract The aim of this work is the performance study of the various stages of groundwater treatment in a pharmaceutical industry. We were particularly interested in the influence of the reverse osmosis on the data processing sequence. The water quality was evaluated in terms of conductivity; the performances of RO treatment were evaluated in terms of rejection of different species in the groundwater. Also, fouling potential of groundwater was investigated. Results indicate that the reverse osmosis process is well adapted for this treatment; the retention is more than 99% for the totality of solutes. The conductivity of water to be treated decreases by 1770 µs/cm to 15 µs/cm. To be in agreement with the standards of pharmaceutical industry, a deionizer placed at the exit of the osmosor allows decreasing the conductivity down to 0.5 µs/cm. Keywords: Reverse osmosis; Deionizer; Fouling; Groundwater; Membrane; Pharmaceutical industry

1. Introduction When the standards quality are not very constraining, the traditional treatments are sufficient to purify groundwater for industrial applications. In many cases, for pharmaceutical and food industries, it is necessary to remove the mineral and organics micro pollutants to obtain water as close as possible to the “ultra pure water” element.
*Corresponding author.

The membranes technologies, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, seem to be the technology of the future for this type of separation. These techniques have