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Advanced Physicochemical Treatment Technologies pp 329–366Cite as

Reverse Osmosis Technology for Desalination

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Part of the book series: Handbook of Environmental Engineering ((HEE,volume 5))

Abstract

Desalination technologies are intended for the removal of dissolved salts that cannot be removed by conventional treatment processes. Thermal distillation technologies have been used in some ships for more than 100 yr. Desalination was used on a limited scale for municipal water treatment in the late 1960s. The past four decades can be divided into three phases of development: (1) 1950s was the time for discovery; (2) 1960s was concerned with research; and (3) 1970s and 1980s has been the time for commercialization. In the beginning of the 1970s, the industry began to concentrate on commercially viable desalination applications and processes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

    Edward S. K. Chian (Retired Professor)

  2. Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    J. Paul Chen PhD (Associate Professor) & Ping-Xin Sheng PhD (Research Fellow)

  3. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    Yen-Peng Ting PhD (Associate Professor)

  4. Lenox Institute of Water Technology, Lenox, MA

    Lawrence K. Wang PhD, Pe, Dee (Dean & Director (Retired), Assistant to the President, Vice President)

  5. Krofta Engineering Corporation, Lenox, MA

    Lawrence K. Wang PhD, Pe, Dee (Dean & Director (Retired), Assistant to the President, Vice President)

  6. Zorex Corporation, Newtonville, NY

    Lawrence K. Wang PhD, Pe, Dee (Dean & Director (Retired), Assistant to the President, Vice President)

Authors
  1. Edward S. K. Chian
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  2. J. Paul Chen PhD
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  3. Ping-Xin Sheng PhD
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  4. Yen-Peng Ting PhD
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  5. Lawrence K. Wang PhD, Pe, Dee
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lenox Institute of Water Technology, Lenox, MA

    Lawrence K. Wang PhD, PE, DEE  & Nazih K. Shammas PhD  & 

  2. Krofta Engineering Corporation, Lenox, MA

    Lawrence K. Wang PhD, PE, DEE  & Nazih K. Shammas PhD  & 

  3. Zorex Corporation, Newtonville, NY

    Lawrence K. Wang PhD, PE, DEE

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

    Yung-Tse Hung PhD, PE, DEE

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© 2007 The Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Chian, E.S.K., Chen, J.P., Sheng, PX., Ting, YP., Wang, L.K. (2007). Reverse Osmosis Technology for Desalination. In: Wang, L.K., Hung, YT., Shammas, N.K. (eds) Advanced Physicochemical Treatment Technologies. Handbook of Environmental Engineering, vol 5. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-173-4_6

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