Influence of Temperature on the Performance of Forward Osmosis Using Ammonium Bicarbonate as Draw Solute

This study investigated the influence of temperature on the performance of forward osmosis (FO) under the condition that the feed solution (FS) temperature was different from draw solution (DS) temperature. An FO model considering the mass and heat transfer between FS and DS was developed, and the FO experiment with ammonium bicarbonate solution as DS and sodium chloride solution as FS was carried out. The predicted water flux and reverse draw solute flux using the developed model coincided with the experimental fluxes. Increases in the temperature of FS or DS yield corresponding increases in the water flux, reverse draw solute flux, and forward rejection of feed solute. Compared with increasing the FS temperature, increasing the DS temperature has a more significant impact on enhancing FO performance. When the temperature of DS increased from 20 to 40 °C, the specific reverse solute flux decreased from 0.231 to 0.190 mol/L.