EN-28 preliminary study on the characterization of PRO hollow fiber membranes

The increase in demand for water and electricity have led to straining of existing resources and a new approach is required to meet the demand. The pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) have gathered renewed interest as part of a potential solution that will be able to help meet the demands. There is a lack of suitable membrane that is able to reach the mechanical strength to withstand the pressure required in the PRO process as well as ensuring sufficient pure water permeability to achieve the power density required to make the whole process commercially viable. In order to compare the different membranes made from different polymers, fabrication methods and conditions, a standardised set of experiments is required to compare the different parameters and power density of the membrane fabricated. By varying the different parameters in a systematic way, the effects and relationships of the different parameters can also be analysed to select the best range of parameters for the membranes to possess to achieve the highest power density possible. However, the result obtained was not conclusive in whether the batch of membranes is better than what was already available due to lack of results in the PRO process to compare the power density of the membranes. There was some positive result in terms of the mechanical strength of the membrane as it showed higher tensile strength, stress at break and strain at break when compare to the literature available at the time.Bachelor of Engineering (Civil