We have previously reported the use of hydrogel particles as the draw agent for forward osmosis desalination. In the present work, the effects of draw agent, feed concentration and membrane on the process performance were systematically examined. Our results showed that the incorporation of carbon filler particles in polymer hydrogels led to enhanced swelling ratios of the draw agents and thus ...

The use of forward osmosis (FO) is of growing interest for water desalination, due to its potential energy savings. However, its industrial implementation is still limited by its actual performance limitation inwater permeation and reverse salt diffusion, due to membrane properties. Assisted forward osmosis (AFO) is a new concept, aiming at pressurising the feed solution to enhance water permea...

The purpose of this study was to determine the comparative environmental impacts of coupled seawater desalination and water reclamation using a novel hybrid system that consist of an osmotically driven membrane process and established membrane desalination technologies. A comparative life cycle assessment methodology was used to differentiate between a novel hybrid process consisting of forward...

In this paper, the removal of phenol by using aqueous solution in a low pressure reverse osmosis membrane was investigated. The effect of feed pressure, feed concentration, feed flow rate and feed pH on phenol rejection was investigated. The results showed that feed pH is the most affective parameter on the phenol rejection. Rejection of phenol increased with increasing pH from 2 to 10 under th...

Water contamination by micropollutants is increasing, including steroid hormones. Indiscriminate use, incorrect disposal, inefficient treatment of water and effluents, less restrictive legislation promote the effluents water, with harmful consequences for environment human health. In this work, it was evaluated use reverse osmosis in removal ethinylestradiol levonorgestrel, synthetic steroids t...

A novel osmotic membrane bioreactor (OsMBR) is presented. The system utilizes a submerged forward osmosis (FO) membrane module inside a bioreactor. Through osmosis, water is transported from the mixed liquor across a semi-permeable membrane, and into a draw solution (DS) with a higher osmotic pressure. To produce potable water, the diluted DS is treated in a reverse osmosis (RO) unit; the by-pr...