Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation Processes for Freshwater Production. (cover story)

The article focuses on the use of forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD) processes for freshwater production. It states that FO uses a semi-permeable membrane to sepate water from dissolved solutes like reverse osmosis (RO). It defines MD as a combination of membrane technology and evaporation processing. It suggests to minimize the thickness of hydrophobic functional layer and the use of hydrophilic layer as support for thin layer to reduce water vapour mass-transfer resistance in MD process.