Uniqueness of biofouling in forward osmosis systems: Mechanisms and control

Abstract

Osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMPs) have gained renewed interests in recent years as an emerging separation/desalination process. However, fouling, specifically biofouling, is still an inevitable and crucial issue for long-term application of FO processes. Due to the limited studies on biofouling in ODMPs, the formation and control of biofouling are still not fully understood. This brief review focuses on the insights into the analysis techniques, formation mechanisms, and uniqueness of biofouling in FO processes. Furthermore, the control strategies of biofouling on FO membranes are highlighted and future perspectives are presented.

Keywords:

• Biofouling
• biofouling control
• organic fouling
• osmotically driven membrane process
• pressure driven membrane process

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51308400; the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse (Tongji University), China under Grant PCRRE16003. MH acknowledges the Howard and Susan Read Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Water Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51308400; the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse (Tongji University), China under Grant PCRRE16003.