Introduction: Role of membrane science and technology and forward osmosis processes

This introduction presents an overview of the book’s key concepts. The book’s main objective is to introduce the principles and concept of the forward osmosis (FO) process and the potential for various applications, such as desalination, fertigation, wastewater reuse, and mine water treatment. The book also covers other important aspects of the FO process such as membrane fabrication and modeling. The introduction briefly outlines each chapter, including various water treatment technologies available on the market. One of the most advanced and reliable water treatment technologies is the membrane process. Depending on the membrane pore size and its removal capacity, the membrane process is classified into four different types: microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration. and reverse osmosis.