Osmosis is the movement of solvent across a membrane induced by a solute-concentration gradient. It is very important for cell biology. Recently, it has started finding technological applications in the emerging processes of Forward Osmosis and Pressure-Retarded Osmosis. They use ultrathin and dense membranes supported mechanically by much thicker porous layers. Until now, these processes have ...

A pilot system was designed and constructed to evaluate reverse osmosis (RO) energy reduction that can be achieved using pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO). The RO-PRO experimental system is the first known system to utilize energy from a volume of water transferred from atmospheric pressure to elevated pressure across a semipermeable membrane to prepressurize RO feedwater. In other words, the sys...

The rejection of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by an osmotically driven membrane filtration process was investigated. A set of 40 compounds representing major groups of TrOCs of concern was selected for this study. The rejection of the TrOCs by a commercial cellulose acetate asymmetric forward osmosis membrane, as well as a ''tight'' commercial thin-film composite nanofiltration (NF) membr...