ABSTRACT
Osmotic energy, also known as energy from salinity gradient or blue energy, is an abundant yet unexploited renewable energy. Numerous technologies have been invented to harvest the osmotic energy, among which pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) stands out as the most efficient and most developed. PRO employs a semipermeable membrane to harvest the osmotic-driven water flow and turns it into energy. In this chapter, we will discuss the fundamentals such as the thermodynamic, mass transport, and membrane development of PRO technology. We will then present an overview of various processes that take the advantage of PRO for clean energy or water productions.
