REPORT ON FORWARD OSMOSIS (FO) TOUR AND ILLUSTRATION

The forward osmosis tour was held today for us interns for further understanding on the role
of Forward Osmosis as well as the concept of Reverse Osmosis in wastewater treatment. But
as for the illustration and tour held, the forward osmosis was mainly focused on Forward
Osmosis where this process was illustrated using a small scale prototype experimenting on the
concentrating of beer as an example for the osmosis process occurrence. This forward osmosis
process is basically an osmotic process that uses a semi-permeable membrane for separation of
water from dissolved solutes to occur. The driving force of FO is an osmotic pressure gradient
between a solution of high concentration (draw) and a solution of a lower concentration also
known as the (feed). The membrane used for this specific FO process is aquaporin membrane
which is enables high rejection of contaminants, particles and a low reverse back diffusion. A
single pass in FO was used specifically for this concentrating beer process to maintain the
molarity of Nacl of 1M throughout the cycle. There are several passes and arrays used for
different types of experiment and desired outcomes but as for this, we are utilizing a single
pass. So basically, the inlet feeds are both the beer as well salt solution of 1M (Sodium
Chloride, Nacl) supplied and pumped in to the tank filled with membrane for separation to
occur. Once supplied, we were able to identify and observe a sudden decrease in volume of the
beer as compared to the original volume. The reason for this depletion and observation was
because forward osmosis or also known as osmosis has taken place. The water molecules flows
across a concentration gradient from a low concentration (beer) to (salt solution) which is of
high concentration. So the accumulated water molecules are accumulated and transferred to the
draw 2 mainly composed of water and salt solution of 1M. But as the forward osmosis process
occurs, the molarity of salt solution alters as more water is being diffused into. In short, the salt
solution becomes diluted from the excess water. In conclusion, the end product of this FO
process is that a decreased volume, a more concentrated beer is obtained aided with an intense
odour of beer which results in a success of this forward osmosis process. Once each cycle has
completed and is successful, cleaning and flushing of the aquaporin membrane is required. This
is significant in avoiding any possible membrane fouling on the membrane fibres and a
continuous efficient separation process.