Reverse osmosis

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  • chemical separation

    chemical analysis: Osmosis
    ...solvent) while preventing passage of larger molecules. The natural tendency is for the solvent to flow from the side where its concentration is higher to the side where its concentration is lower. Reverse osmosis occurs when pressure is applied to the solution on the side of the membrane that contains the lower solvent concentration. The pressure forces the solvent to flow from a region of low...
    separation and purification: Barrier separations
    In a separation technique called reverse osmosis, a pressure is applied opposite to and in excess of the osmotic pressure to force the solvent through a membrane against its concentration gradient. This method is an effective means of concentrating impurities, recovering contaminated solvents, cleaning up polluted streams, and desalinizing seawater. Dialysis, a technique frequently used in...
  • desalination

    desalination: Desalination processes
    ...electrical potential to drive the positive and negative ions of dissolved salts through separate semipermeable synthetic membrane filters. This process leaves fresh water between the filters. In reverse osmosis salt water is forced against the membranes under high pressure; fresh water passes through while the concentrated mineral salts remain behind. To conserve space, the membranes are...
    liquid (state of matter): Osmotic pressure
    ...and chloride ions (Cl-). Thus, for a 3.5 percent sodium chloride solution at 25° C, π is 29 atmospheres, which is the minimum pressure at which a desalination reverse osmosis process can operate.
  • ion-exchange membranes

    ion-exchange reaction: Ion-exchange procedures
    ...membranes has been slow for this reason. Ion-exchange membranes are used, however, to separate the electrodes of fuel cells and to remove salts from water by the physical processes termed reverse osmosis and electrodialysis. The former is a kind of filtration process—water is squeezed through the membrane under pressure while the dissolved salts are left behind. The reaction can...
  • water supply systems

    water supply system: Membrane filtration
    ...while allowing smaller water molecules to pass through under the effect of hydrostatic pressure. Pressure-driven membrane filtration systems include microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), and reverse osmosis (RO); they differ basically in the pressures used and pore sizes of the membranes. RO systems operate at relatively high pressures and can be used to remove dissolved inorganic...
    water supply system: Membrane processes
    ...Water flows from the dilute side to the concentrated side. This process is called osmosis. However, a high pressure applied to the concentrated side can reverse the direction of this flow. In reverse osmosis, salty water is pumped into a vessel and pressurized against the membrane. Fresh water diffuses through the membrane, leaving a more concentrated salt solution behind.
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