Essay On Osmosis

Abstract:

Osmosis is a physical phenomenon that has been studied by scientists of various disciplines of science and engineering. Osmosis is a natural equilibrium process and forward osmosis is one of many types of osmosis processes. It works by having two solutions with different concentrations separated by a selectively permeable membrane and ‘pure’ water flows from less concentrated solution across the membrane to dilute the more concentrated solution, leaving the salts behind. The clue in the potential applications is widely used in nature, however only recently that its potential has begun to be recognised industrially and with the progress in membrane and draw solutes science in the last few decades, the research and industrialization of engineered applications of osmosis has been increased exponentially. Osmosis, or currently referred to as forward osmosis, has new applications in separation processes for wastewater treatment and seawater or brackish water desalination. Other areas of forward osmosis research

Introduction: 500-1000

With the growing population water and energy have become two of the most important resources on the earth. Both water shortages and energy crises are big concern around the world. It is reported that more than 1.2 billion people in the world lack access to clean and safe drinking water which is about the population of India. Although most of the planet is surrounded by oceans i.e. about 71%, only approximately 2.5% is freshwater, much of which is not available to us.

fig.1 Distribution of water on earth.

Water and energy are linked to each other. Making fresh water available is an energy-intensive process and generating power often requires a large amount of fresh water as saline water could not be used in machineries. As an emerging technology, forward osmosis has shown great promise in both water supply and energy