The low energy consumption forward osmosis desalination process

Abstract

Recently, there have been efforts to develop alternative desalination technologies that operate at low or no hydraulic pressure and potentially reduce the capital and operation costs. Forward osmosis (FO) process has emerged as one of the most promising candidates for desalination with a potential to consume much lower energy than the conventional processes depending on the types of applications. The main objective of this study is evaluating a suitable and practical application as a low energy desalination technology for irrigation and fresh water. The following are some of the specific objectives of this particular study: Evaluate the performance of the commonly used fertilisers as draw solutes through bench-scale and semi pilot scale experiments using a thin film composite (TFC) hollow fibre and flat sheet FO membranes; Evaluate the FO-RO hybrid process for simultaneously seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation by using synthetic seawater as draw solution and synthetic wastewater as feed solution; Investigate the FO performance over diluting seawater through wastewater reuse under various solution chemistries, applied hydraulic pressure on the feed side and cross-flow velocity.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English