Experimental Investigation into the Transmembrane Electrical Potential of the Forward Osmosis Membrane Process in Electrolyte Solutions

The transmembrane electrical potential (TMEP) in a forward osmosis membrane process with a single electrolyte solution as the draw and feed solutions was investigated by experiments. The effects of membrane orientation, the electrolyte species (KCl, NaCl, MgCl(2), and CaCl(2)), concentration and concentration ratio of solutions at both sides of membrane on water flux and TMEP were investigated. The results showed that the TMEPs at different membrane orientation cannot completely coincide, which confirmed the effect of membrane asymmetry. The ion diffusion coefficients significantly affected the TMEP across the membrane, with different patterns for different electrolytes and concentrations.