Forward Osmosis Membrane Fouling in Oilfield Industry Wastewater Treatment with Fertilizer as the Draw Solution

A teaching experiment providing a research-oriented experience is customized for senior undergraduate students majoring in chemical engineering, environmental engineering, and material science. The practical class was designed to demonstrate membrane separation by focusing on the forward osmosis (FO) membrane concept, FO process in treating oily wastewater, and membrane fouling behaviors and characterization. Touring this comprehensive experiment, students acquired valuable experience optimizing the FO operation parameters to realize an efficient FO process, while the membrane fouling phenomenon was observed and understood. Besides, the students also acquired hands-on opportunities to examine Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), which helps them understand the impacts of membrane fouling on the membrane physicochemical properties and lays a groundwork for their further research. The testing data was collected and visualized by the students via the software Origin, and then the results were systematically analyzed to reveal the membrane fouling mechanism and form an experimental report, which endowed the students with the ability to organize experimental results. This reasonable design serves as a bridge to connect membrane theoretical knowledge and practical application challenges, inspiring the passion and curiosity of the students in research work and narrowing the gap for further research study.