Forward Osmosis (FO) Membrane Technology
Advanced Separation using Forward Osmosis Membrane
What is Forward Osmosis (FO) membrane process?
Forward Osmosis (FO) is an advanced and sustainable membrane separation process, where a semi-permeable membrane generates water flow across the membrane using a concentration gradient. This way it is possible to recover, concentrate, separate, or purify valuable feed sources and generate fresh water with minimal energy and pressure requirements.
In FO, the water recovery is accomplished using a concentrated draw solution to generate a concentration gradient across the membrane, which gives recovered water mixed with the draw solution. Essentially, FO requires a subsequent draw solution regeneration step where the separation of product water and draw solution is accomplished. The draw recovery section is an essential step for the continuity of integrated operation in FO.
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What are the advantages of Forward Osmosis (FO) technology?
As FO relies on osmotic pressure generated by concentration gradient across the membrane- to extract clean and fresh water from feed source-, unlike any other pressure-driven membrane process, there is no need to apply additional hydraulic pressure on a feed side.
FO is considered to be a promising technology due to its operational and process-related advantages over conventional technologies.
Below is the list of advantages of using FO technology over conventional ones:
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High water recovery
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Low operational pressure
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Simple, easy and integrated design
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Minimized waste
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Low energy consumption per unit of water recovered
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Low capital investment
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Low operation and maintenance costs
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Less fouling and scaling
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Longer membrane life
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Ability to treat complex wastewater
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Modular structure
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Applications of Forward Osmosis (FO) Technology
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Brine Minimisation for RO Concentrate
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Lithium Extraction and Refining
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Dewatering or concentration of high-value product stream
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Sea Water Desalination
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Concentration and separation of food, beverage or pharma products
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Resource recovery of valuable products or minerals​
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GreenPebble Technologies' SEPION Forward Osmosis (FO) Membrane
GreenPebble Technologies designs manufactures, and supplies proprietary SEPION hollow fiber Forward Osmosis membrane, module, and plant systems - for applications such as ZLD, wastewater treatment, and recycling, seawater desalination, industrial effluent treatment plants, etc. ​​​​
GPT uses a proprietary arrangement of membrane system along with FO to recover product water and reconcentrate the draw solution. Depending on the feed source, inlet quality parameters, and overall treatment goals, GPT customizes the plant configuration to regenerate draw solution including RO, NF or membrane distillation (MD).
Our commercial plant installations showed successful outcomes for our clients in achieving around 70-80% of wastewater recovery and a 50% reduction in energy consumption.​​
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