A review of key parameters affecting inorganic scaling in thermal, pressure, and osmosis-driven membranes for produced water desalination

As a byproduct of oil and gas (O&G) extraction, large volumes of produced water (PW) with complex compositions have a potential threat if they are not appropriately managed. Although membrane technologies are promising approaches for PW desalination, the widespread application of membrane desalination technologies is significantly hindered by fouling and inorganic scaling. The research interest in membrane scaling has been proven by the growing number of literature with an average annual growth rate of 17 %. Inorganic scaling was impacted by various factors, mainly including operation conditions, membrane properties and pretreatments. Thus, the review summarized the latest research on inorganic scaling during PW treatment using membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO) and nanofiltration/reverse osmosis (NF/RO), focusing on these influencing factors. Moreover, FO showed the best resistance performance of inorganic scaling in PW treatment by comparing MD, FO and RO/NF processes. Finally, the trade-off between scaling mitigation behaviors and permeate flux, exploring the effect of fouling on scaling, and studying the unknown risks of chemical agents on desalination could be regarded as future research directions. It is beneficial for the large market prospects of membrane processes in PW treatment by addressing membrane scaling.