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Exploration of an innovative draw solution for a forward osmosis-membrane distillation desalination process

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Abstract

Forward osmosis (FO) has emerged as a viable technology to alleviate the global water crisis. The greatest challenge facing the application of FO technology is the lack of an ideal draw solution with high water flux and low reverse salt flux. Hence, the objective of this study was to enhance FO by lowering reverse salt flux and maintaining high water flux; the method involved adding small concentrations of Al2(SO4)3 to a MgCl2 draw solution. Results showed that 0.5 M MgCl2 mixed with 0.05 M of Al2(SO4)3 at pH 6.5 achieved a lower reverse salt flux (0.53 gMH) than that of pure MgCl2 (1.55 gMH) using an FO cellulose triacetate nonwoven (CTA-NW) membrane. This was due possibly to the flocculation of aluminum hydroxide in the mixed draw solution that constricted membrane pores, resulting in reduced salt diffusion. Moreover, average water fluxes of 4.09 and 1.74 L/m2-h (LMH) were achieved over 180 min, respectively, when brackish water (5 g/L) and sea water (35 g/L) were used as feed solutions. Furthermore, three types of membrane distillation (MD) membranes were selected for draw solution recovery; of these, a polytetrafluoroethylene membrane with a pore size of 0.45 μm proved to be the most effective in achieving a high salt rejection (99.90%) and high water flux (5.41 LMH) in a diluted draw solution.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Southern Taiwan Science Park and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China under the grant number of 104-2221-E-027-004-MY3. The authors are also grateful for the support of the Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan and Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, No.1, Sec. 3, Chung –Hsiao E. Rd, Taipei, 106, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Nguyen Cong Nguyen, Shiao-Shing Chen, Hau Thi Nguyen & Saikat Sinha Ray

  2. Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Dalat University, Dalat, Vietnam

    Nguyen Cong Nguyen, Hau Thi Nguyen & Ngoc Tuan Lam

  3. School of Civil and Chemical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, India

    Shubham Jain

  4. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Huu Hao Ngo & Wenshan Guo

  5. Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Hung Cong Duong

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  1. Nguyen Cong Nguyen
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  2. Shiao-Shing Chen
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  3. Shubham Jain
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  4. Hau Thi Nguyen
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  5. Saikat Sinha Ray
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  6. Huu Hao Ngo
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  7. Wenshan Guo
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  8. Ngoc Tuan Lam
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  9. Hung Cong Duong
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Correspondence to Nguyen Cong Nguyen, Shiao-Shing Chen or Huu Hao Ngo.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Nguyen, N.C., Chen, SS., Jain, S. et al. Exploration of an innovative draw solution for a forward osmosis-membrane distillation desalination process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 5203–5211 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9192-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9192-1

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