Preface to the special issue on “Pressure Retarded Osmosis in Megaton Water

Salinity power generation using membrane modules was examined by the Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) system between pure water and concentrated brine in the Mega-ton Water System Project under the Japanese national project of “Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology” (FIRST Program). Pure water and concentrated brine were supplied from sewage treatment center and sea water desalination plant, respectively. It was proved that PRO was available between concentrated brine and purified water from treated sewage so that it was possible to construct the commercial salinity power generation plan by PRO. The advanced works suggested that the novel PRO membranes, which had high water flux, should be developed if we completed the PRO between sea water and river water. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

According to those works it was proved that PRO with 10-in. hollow fiber membrane module was available between concentrated brine and purified water from treated sewage without low pressure RO membrane operation so that it was possible to construct the commercial salinity power generation plan by PRO. The advanced works cited above suggested that the novel PRO membranes, which had high water flux, should be developed if we completed the PRO between sea water and river water.