Question

Explain in detail about reverse osmosis process.

Answer 1

The direction of osmosis can be reversed if a presure is applied to the solutions side. that is now the pure solvent flows out of the solution through the semipermeable membrance. This phenomenon is called reverse osmasis and is of great practical utility. Reverse osmosis is used in desalination of see water.

A schametic setup for the process is shown is figure. when presure more than osmotic presure is applied pure water is squeeyed out of the see water through the membrance. A variety of polymer membranes are available for this purpose.

The presure required for reverse osmosis is quite high. A workable porous mebrance is a film of cellulase acetate placed over a suitable support. cellulose ecetate is permeable to water but impermeable to impourcities and ions present in see water.