Pressure-retarded osmosis

The ideal water potential between fresh water (right) and sea water (left) corresponds to a hydraulic head of 270 metres

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a technique to separate a solvent (for example, fresh water) from a solution that is more concentrated (e.g. sea water) and also pressurized. A semipermeable membrane allows the solvent to pass to the concentrated solution side by osmosis.[1] The technique can be used to generate power from the salinity gradient energy resulting from the difference in the salt concentration between sea and river water.

  1. ^ Helfer Fernanda, Lemckert Charles, Anissimov Yuri G (2014). "Osmotic power with Pressure Retarded Osmosis: Theory, performance and trends – A review". Journal of Membrane Science. 453: 337–358. doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2013.10.053. hdl:10072/61191.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)