I came up with a pump design for a desalination process using a reverse osmosis membrane which I’d like to try out. I THINK it will work, but I’m not willing to pony up the cash to buy the actual membrane till I’m a bit more certain about the system being able to get the required pressure.
Can anyone suggest a mock up that will simulate the Reverse osmosis membrane restriction using CHEAP items? It should be small scale in size (not industrial) and ideally using off the shelf items. Again, not trying to filter anything, just restrict water flow to something similar to what a RO membrane does. (I think 1200psi is what’s needed for the system).
Alternatively anyone know if/where to get non usable RO membranes? Again, not trying to get a functional pruduct just testing to see if I can get water flow through it.
Thanks!
Nametag: Don’t know, would it? Not really knowledgeable about the subject. I want to simulate the RO membrane scaled down. So lets say I have a bucket and I want to simulate how much pressure I need to pump that water through a membrane, would this restrictor do the job?
Beowulf: don’t know what materials I’d need.
Tried to read up on the math (thought I’d be able to do it on paper first) but frankly it confused the heck out of me so said heck w/it I’ll try to do a practical experiment.
I’ve mocked up two versions already using whatever pipes and hoses I had lying around (yes PVC was included but pressures were very low) and it seems to get the water through the obstructions/restrictions I’ve created but since I’ve exactly zero experience w/RO membranes I’ve no idea how to mock up something like that to really simulate it.
Ideally I’d just build the whole thing, but given the cost of a membrane plus whatever pipe/hose material I’d need given the pressure requirements of the membrane, the costs started to build up. That doesn’t even consider the costs in building up my idea to deal with that sort of situation. Since it’s really just an experiment (I don’t live near a coast so wouldn’t even be able to use it if it did work) I’m not willing to spend a lot just to play around.