시드니 기술대학교(UTS) 소속 과학자들이 담수화에 사용되는 에너지를 80%까지 절감할 수 있는 정삼투 시스템을 창안해냈다.

UTS 기술센터 상·하수 분야 연구원들은 FDFO(Fertiliser Drawn Forward Osmosis) 기술을 보유하고 있따. 정삼투는 삼투압에 의존하므로, 역삼투보다 에너지가 덜 소모된다. 또한, 연구원들은 멤브레인 오염이 정삼투에서는 덜 일반적이라고 설명한다.

 

 

 

Scientists at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) have devised a forward osmosis system which they claim could reduce the energy used in desalination for irrigation by up to 80 per cent.

 

 Researchers from the UTS Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW) have the developing technology of Fertiliser Drawn Forward Osmosis (FDFO). Forward osmosis relies on osmotic pressure and so requires less energy that reverse osmosis. And researchers claim membrane fouling is much less prevalent in the forward process.

Research leader Dr Hokyong Shon said the process had much to offer a country that uses so much of its water for irrigation, said Shon. Australia uses 60 per cent of its water supply for irrigation. Desalination plants have been built around the country to reduce Australia's reliance on rainfall.

"By reducing the demand that irrigation places on our traditional water supplies, we are conserving precious water for domestic use in our homes," said Shon.

The FDFO system draws water from saline via osmosis by employing high-concentration, soluble fertilisers - typically ammonium hydrogen phosphates - on the opposite side of a membrane filter.
A pilot installation of a FDFO system has been adopted by New South Wales State Water through the National Centre of Excellence for Desalination Australia and is currently being used at a coal mining site to desalinate groundwater.

 

[출처 = Desalination & Water Reuse / 2014년 10월23일]