Abstract: Systems and methods for rapid flushing of a membrane-based fluid filtration system are disclosed herein. During flushing, a membrane of the system can be decoupled from other portions of the system and brine can be flushed from the membrane separate from the other portions of the system. In some embodiments, the membrane can be connected to a pump to form a flushing loop that is separate from the flushing loops of the main system to flow the flushing fluid therethrough. The flushing fluid through the membrane can be optimized and set based on a flow rate of the membrane to prevent damaging the membrane while minimizing flush time of the membrane relative to the flush time of the system.

Abstract: Systems and methods for configuring compact desalination RO systems operable for point-of-use applications are disclosed herein. The compact RO system can include a single RO element disposed in a vessel and connected to one or more pumps in a circulation loop that recirculates fluid through the vessel. The compact RO system can reconfigure, combine and/or eliminate one or more components to reduce a footprint of the system. For example, the RO system can utilize pumps having flow valves integrated therein instead of separate pump and valve components. High recovery ratios can be maintained by allowing brine produced by the RO element to exit the system before passing through the pump. In some embodiments, the system can utilize pulse width modulation (PWM) to change a flow rate of the pump within the system to ensure operation at peak pressure and flow rate.

Abstract: Improved reverse osmosis (RO) systems include at least first and second stages wherein each stage has at least one RO membrane, each stage has a feed stream inlet, a permeate stream outlet, and a concentrate stream outlet, the feed stream inlet of the second stage is coupled to the concentrate stream outlet of the first stage, the second pressure is greater than the first pressure, and pressure exchangers associated with each of the first and second stages are configured to recover energy from the second stage concentrate stream. The systems include M reverse osmosis membranes in the first stage and N reverse osmosis membranes in the second stage, wherein M?N. The first pressure and second pressure are configured so that spatial variance in flux of the first stage permeate stream relative to flux of the second stage permeate stream is minimized.

Abstract: Improved reverse osmosis (RO) systems include at least first and second stages wherein each stage has at least one RO membrane, each stage has a feed stream inlet, permeate stream outlet, and concentrate stream outlet, the feed stream inlet of the second stage is coupled to the concentrate stream outlet of the first stage, the feed stream entering the first stage is pressurized to a first pressure and the feed stream entering the second stage is pressurized to a second pressure, the second pressure being greater than the first pressure. The systems include M number of reverse osmosis membranes in the first stage and N number of reverse osmosis membranes in the second stage, wherein M?N. The first pressure and second pressure are configured so that flux of the permeate streams of the first stage and the second stage has a spatial variance that is minimized.

Abstract: Improved reverse osmosis (RO) systems include at least first and second stages wherein each stage has at least one RO membrane, each stage has a feed stream inlet, a permeate stream outlet, and a concentrate stream outlet, the feed stream inlet of the second stage is coupled to the concentrate stream outlet of the first stage, the second pressure is greater than the first pressure, and pressure exchangers associated with each of the first and second stages are configured to recover energy from the second stage concentrate stream. The systems include M reverse osmosis membranes in the first stage and N reverse osmosis membranes in the second stage, wherein M?N. The first pressure and second pressure are configured so that spatial variance in flux of the first stage permeate stream relative to flux of the second stage permeate stream is minimized.