Abstract:
Due to the scarcity of clean water in many regions of the world, seawater
desalination and wastewater treatment start to play a crucial role for future water
supplies. Currently leading technology of membrane water treatment is based on
conventional technologies (reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and
microfiltration) consuming high amount of energy. One of the ways to solve the
problems with overconsumption of energy is to use forward osmosis (FO). FO is a
relatively new membrane-based process that can significantly upgrade water
treatment technologies. Since it employs membrane technology, the performance
of the forward osmosis water treatment directly depends on properties of the
membrane whose performance highly vulnerable to fouling activities.