Sustainable membrane technology for resource recovery from wastewater: Forward osmosis and pressure retarded osmosis

There has been increasing attention in osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMPs), which include forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO). They provide a sustainable solution against water and energy scarcity issues by utilizing the osmotic pressure difference between two water bodies, feed (low salinity) and draw solution (high salinity), across a semipermeable membrane. Indeed, their main applications, water treatment (e.g., desalination and wastewater treatment) and power generation, facilitate resource recovery from wastewaters. This review updates the recent development of FO and PRO by providing a comprehensive review on their fundamentals, membrane properties, potential applications as well as advanced techniques. In addition, economic analysis and environmental impacts are critically reviewed to highlight their feasibility and sustainability. Resource recovery from wastewaters (e.g., water, nutrient and energy) using FO and PRO is also discussed followed by their commercialization and future trends in order to push forward laboratory research to full-scale commercialization.

Automated summary

Osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMPs) such as forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) have gained increasing attention for providing sustainable solutions against water and energy scarcity issues. This review updates the recent development of FO and PRO, covering fundamentals, membrane properties, potential applications, advanced techniques, economic analysis, and environmental impacts. Resource recovery from wastewaters, commercialization, and future trends of FO and PRO are also discussed to push forward laboratory research to full-scale commercialization.