Provided are processes of removing particulate fouling from a filtration membrane or for preventing membrane fouling by particulate matter. A process capitalizes on reversal of a naturally occurring diisophoretic particle deposition to actively move particulate material away from a membrane. A process includes placing a microparticle including a salt in proximity to a membrane such that the microparticle creates a gradient generated spontaneous electric field or a gradient generated spontaneous chemiphoretic field in the solvent proximal to the membrane that actively draws charged particles away from the membrane thereby removing charged particulate matter away from the membrane or preventing its deposition.

The present disclosure relates to osmotic power plants and method for their operation. For example, a method for operating an osmotic power plant may include: supplying a starting solution containing a first substance to the thermal separating facility; evaporating the starting solution in an evaporator; discharging the substance out of the evaporator with a gaseous medium flowing through the evaporator; converting the discharged substance to a liquid phase in a condenser and thereby generating the first solution; wherein the substance is more easily converted to a gas phase than the solvent of the starting solution. The first solution has a first concentration the substance dissolved in a solvent. A second solution has a second, lesser concentration of the substance. The first solution is provided by a thermal separating facility.

An apparatus for reducing the total dissolved solids of a solution includes a unit having at least two chambers; a respective semi-permeable membrane arrangement disposed between each of the at least two chambers; a device for introducing respective solutions into, and withdrawing solutions from, the chambers; and at least one paddle disposed in each of said chambers. The paddles are configured to sweep opposite sides of each of the semi-permeable membrane arrangements. A device provides relative movement between the paddles and the semi-permeable arrangements.

Citric acid is purified to remove metal ions through a two-step filtration process. A first filter is used to perform a first filtration, then a second filter is used to perform a second filtration on citric acid solution that has been subject to the first filtration. The first and second filters can include the same filter membrane material. The filter used as the first filter can be a relatively dirtier, more loaded filter compared to the filter used as the second filter. The first filtration can be performed over four hours of recirculating the citric acid solution through the first filter, and the second filtration can be performed over approximately two and one half hours of recirculating the citric acid solution through the second filter. Such a purification process can remove calcium and magnesium ions to render citric acid suitable as a cleaning solution in semiconductor processing.

Citric acid is purified to remove metal ions through a two-step filtration process. A first filter is used to perform a first filtration, then a second filter is used to perform a second filtration on citric acid solution that has been subject to the first filtration. The first and second filters can include the same filter membrane material. The filter used as the first filter can be a relatively dirtier, more loaded filter compared to the filter used as the second filter. The first filtration can be performed over four hours of recirculating the citric acid solution through the first filter, and the second filtration can be performed over approximately two and one half hours of recirculating the citric acid solution through the second filter. Such a purification process can remove calcium and magnesium ions to render citric acid suitable as a cleaning solution in semiconductor processing.

Separation processes using forward osmosis are disclosed generally involving the extraction of a solvent from a first solution to concentrate a solute therein by using a second concentrated solution to draw the solvent from the first solution across a semi-permeable membrane. One or both of the solute and solvent may be a desired product. By manipulating the equilibrium of the soluble and insoluble species of solute within the second solution, a saturated second solution can be used to generate osmotic pressure on the first solution. The various species of solute within the second solution can be recovered and recycled through the process to affect the changes in equilibrium and eliminate waste products. Enhanced efficiency may result from using low grade waste heat from industrial or commercial sources.

A method of removing carbon dioxide from a carbonate-containing diaminoalkane solution, the method including passing the carbonate-containing diaminoalkane solution through a membrane module, and a method of preparing diaminoalkane including the same.

A history management method for water treatment members includes: a first step of, during a shipping process of placing each water treatment member in the accommodating member, registering each water treatment member identification information in the information recording section of an information management device in association with accommodating member identification information for the accommodating member and attaching, to the accommodating member, a tag from which the accommodating member identification information is readable; and a second step of, during a receiving process of attaching each water treatment member accommodated in the accommodating member to the water treatment apparatus, registering the water treatment member identification information, which is obtained from the information recording section based on the accommodating member identification information read from the tag, in the information recording section in association with water treatment apparatus identification information for the water treatment apparatus.

A system for treatment of a brine feed, the system including a hybrid reactor, the reactor having a plurality of forward osmosis membranes configured to permit the passage of a draw solution solute through the middle of the membrane to draw water across the membrane wall from the brine feed so as to generate diluted solute, and a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies configured to separate ions of the salt in the brine feed to concentrate the salt ions, each membrane electrode assembly having an anion exchange membrane and a cation exchange membrane; whereby each membrane electrode assembly houses a plurality of forward osmosis membranes therewithin.

A system for treatment of a brine feed, the system including a hybrid reactor, the reactor having a plurality of forward osmosis membranes configured to permit the passage of a draw solution solute through the middle of the membrane to draw water across the membrane wall from the brine feed so as to generate diluted solute, and a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies configured to separate ions of the salt in the brine feed to concentrate the salt ions, each membrane electrode assembly having an anion exchange membrane and a cation exchange membrane; whereby each membrane electrode assembly houses a plurality of forward osmosis membranes therewithin.