Solar thermal Forward Osmosis (FO) sea water desalination system

GS PAPER III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

Context: Sea water desalination through solar thermal forward osmosis brings relief to drought prone Tamil Nadu village

Tamil Nadu IIT Madras in collaboration with Empereal – KGDS Renewable Energy have successfully established and demonstrated this system to address prevalent and emerging water challenges in Mission Mode in the village.

Solar thermal Forward Osmosis (FO) sea water desalination system                      

• The FO system facilitates high recovery, low energy consumption, potential for resource recovery, especially in solutions of high osmotic pressure, less fouling of the membrane because of low pressure operation, easier and more effective cleaning of the membrane, longer membrane life and lower operating costs.
• The sea water FO technology operates at near 2 bar pressure unlike sea water RO that operates at 50 bar pressure.
• It is versatile, has high energy efficiency and low operation and maintenance costs compared to other technologies.
• The Water Technology Initiative, Department of Science & Technology (DST) has supported this field based effort.
• This initiative of DST can pave way for scaling up the emerging technology in various coastal rural areas of the country to address drinking water shortage.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1728530