Theory of reverse osmosis and some other membrane permeation operations

Abstract The general permeation equations for various transport operations using membranes were correlated according to the solution‐diffusion theory. It was shown that for some important conditions, the permeation properties for reverse osmosis can be generated from those of pervaporation. The use of reverse osmosis with pressure smaller than 2000 psi is calculated to be of limited use for the purification of water with small amounts of organic compounds.