Modeling and Experimental Validation for the Preparation of Concentrated Tea Extract Using a Forward Osmosis Process Using a Food-Grade Inorganic Draw Solute

Abstract

In this study, a one-dimensional mathematical model was developed for the concentration of tea extract using a forward osmosis (FO) process. The membrane transport parameters were estimated by minimizing the error between the model output and the experimental results. The model equations were solved to predict the FO performance within allowable error limits. Further, a series of process flow sheet simulation studies were performed to investigate the effect of different operating conditions on the overall FO performance. Based on the simulation results, a multicriteria optimization was developed to attain the maximum permeate and minimum specific reverse solute flux (SRSF). Using the best-performing process flow sheet model, the feasibility of seawater and high-concentration reject brine as a draw solution was also investigated for the concentration of tea extract. The high-concentration reject brine (105.17 g L–1) can result in rapid dewatering with minimal SRSF (0.14 g L–1) along with simultaneous seawater dilution (81.38 g L–1).