Developing an integrated UF-FO module for desalination processes

Bakly, Salam

Developing an integrated UF-FO module for desalination processes

Bakly, Salam

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2023

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bakly, Salam
dc.date.accessioned	2023-10-16T01:14:45Z
dc.date.available	2023-10-16T01:14:45Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172679
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane-based technology increasingly used these days for water purification and desalination with the potential of reducing the energy and fouling of pressure-driven membrane technologies (RO). Conventional desalination plants consist of two stages: i) the pretreatment stage and ii) the RO membrane stage. Despite the advantages of integrating the FO process into desalination processes, the FO process adds an extra stage of membrane treatment which is expected to increase the footprint, energy consumption and operation and capital costs of the desalination plant. The primary strategy to overcome these challenges is to find a method that would minimise the energy and capital cost of the FO process without affecting the process efficiency. Although that many researchers evaluated the efficiency of the FO process compared to the conventional process of reverse osmosis, there is a lack of studies that focus on developing an integrated pretreatment-FO system to reduce the cost of the desalination process. The present study proposes combining the pretreatment stage Ultrafiltration (UF) with the FO process in one module for water purification and desalination. The design of the UF-FO module avails from the fundamental operating mechanisms of UF and FO filtration processes, where the two processes do not require high feed pressure. It consists of applying a range of hydraulic pressures, different solution concentrations and flow rates for the draw and feed side of the new module. Experimental work evaluated the impact of applying different conditions on water flux and reverse salt flux. Additionally, the concentration of NaCl in the draw and feed solutions was measured before and after each experiment to determine the dilution percentage and test the membrane's rejection. This study showed that applying the new module combining two filtration stages is promising to concern considerable membrane flux and low reverse salt flux.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/172679/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2023 Salam Bakly
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/cph
dc.title	Developing an integrated UF-FO module for desalination processes	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	embargoed	*
utslib.copyright.embargo	2025-09-01T00:00:00+1000

Abstract:

Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane-based technology increasingly used these days for water purification and desalination with the potential of reducing the energy and fouling of pressure-driven membrane technologies (RO). Conventional desalination plants consist of two stages: i) the pretreatment stage and ii) the RO membrane stage. Despite the advantages of integrating the FO process into desalination processes, the FO process adds an extra stage of membrane treatment which is expected to increase the footprint, energy consumption and operation and capital costs of the desalination plant. The primary strategy to overcome these challenges is to find a method that would minimise the energy and capital cost of the FO process without affecting the process efficiency. Although that many researchers evaluated the efficiency of the FO process compared to the conventional process of reverse osmosis, there is a lack of studies that focus on developing an integrated pretreatment-FO system to reduce the cost of the desalination process. The present study proposes combining the pretreatment stage Ultrafiltration (UF) with the FO process in one module for water purification and desalination. The design of the UF-FO module avails from the fundamental operating mechanisms of UF and FO filtration processes, where the two processes do not require high feed pressure. It consists of applying a range of hydraulic pressures, different solution concentrations and flow rates for the draw and feed side of the new module. Experimental work evaluated the impact of applying different conditions on water flux and reverse salt flux. Additionally, the concentration of NaCl in the draw and feed solutions was measured before and after each experiment to determine the dilution percentage and test the membrane's rejection. This study showed that applying the new module combining two filtration stages is promising to concern considerable membrane flux and low reverse salt flux.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172679