Development and Applications of Forward Osmosis Process, Review

Forward osmosis (FO) process as a remarkable new membrane technology has attracted great attention of researcher community and the industrial sector. Taking in their consideration the great potential efficiency of the process such as low energy consumption and simple configuration or equipment used compared with traditional pressure-driven membrane processes. Nowadays, FO was investigated in a broad applications range such as: power generation, comprising seawater and brackish water desalination, wastewater treatment and food processing. The current report presents the review of development and recent forward osmosis applications. It starts with explanation of FO principles; critical challenges of FO process are discussed; major factors that govern the development of FO are outlined; in addition, recent applications of FO are reviewed. And finally, some FO case studies in different applications will be presented.