Modeling of reverse osmosis in the presence of strong solute‐membrane affinity

Abstract Modeling of reverse osmosis in the presence of strong solute‐membrane affinity has always been a challenge due to the complexity of the solute‐solvent‐membrane interactions and the resultant effect on membrane performance. Most transport models, including all models treating membranes as nonporous and those based on irreversible thermodynamics, are unable to describe or to predict all of the phenomena associated with this case. Recently, the modified surface force‐pore flow model has been derived and used to describe the performance of reverse osmosis membranes for solutes which are rejected from the membrane. In the present work, this model is extended to a more general form which can describe the solute‐membrane affinity case. For illustration, the extended model, with five adjustable parameters, is used to describe the performance for cellulose acetate membranes and dilute aqueous solutions of toluene, cumene, and p‐chlorophenol (data from literature). The model is reasonably consistent with the data. Simulation results of the extended model are also shown.