- Nano-selective forward osmosis technology by SideStroem featured in Everything About Water - February 10, 2024
- SideStroem and Singapore Institute of Technology featured in AsianScientist - April 29, 2023
- SideStroem joins world class accelerator program - November 12, 2022
Why Zhao et. al. 2012 is one of the best recent review articles on forward osmosis technologies
In their article “Recent developments in forward osmosis: Opportunities and challenges ” from 2012, Zhao and co-workers present an extensive review of forward osmosis technology applications, membrane theory, performance challenges, and forward osmosis membrane developments up until 2012.
Since publishing in 2012, the article has already been cited 128 times according to Google Scholar – an impressive feat confirming the quality of the review work carried out.
On the forward osmosis application side, the authors summarize the state-of-the-art within the following FO application areas:
- Power generation
- Desalination
- Waste water treatment and the osmotic bioreactor (OMBR)
- Liquid food concentration
- Pharmaceutical applications
- Dialysis fluid regeneration, fertigation, and production of biomass energy
Furthermore, the history of FO membrane development is summarized for each of the following membrane designs:
- Cellulosic membranes prepared by phase inversion
- Thin film composite membranes
- Chemically modified membranes
Finally, the sections on membrane theory and FO performance challenges are well written and to-the-point, and we really appreciate the overview figures illustrating the potential OPEX cost savings from usage of FO systems and the challenges current faced by the FO technology. Inspired by the clarity of said figures, we have created our own versions and included them below:
Sources of potential OPEX savings in FO
The 5 challenges currently faced by the FO technology
Please refer to our article on concentration polarization in forward osmosis membranes for a detailed description of B, S, and D values.