Osmotic pressure assisted reverse osmosis membrane and module

A filtration module comprising:

• a first chamber and a second chamber;
• a semipermeable membrane disposed at the interface between the first chamber and the second chamber, the semipermeable membrane having a first side in fluidic communication with the first chamber and a second side in fluidic communication with the second chamber;
• wherein the first chamber is configured to receive a first feed solution stream from a first feed solution source and the second chamber is configured to receive a second feed solution stream from a second feed solution source;
• and
• wherein the semipermeable membrane is configured to pass a solvent of the first feed solution stream, in the form of a permeate solution, from the first side of the membrane to the second side of the membrane upon application of hydrostatic pressure to the first side and the second side of the membrane, the semipermeable membrane configured to operate at a hydrostatic pressure on the second side from about 1% to about 40% of the hydrostatic pressure on the first side of the membrane.

A filtration module comprising:

• a housing having a first inlet port configured to receive a first feed solution stream from a first feed solution source, a second inlet port configured to receive a second feed solution stream from a second feed solution source, a first exit port configured to expel an concentrated first feed solution stream, and a second exit port configured to expel a produced permeate solution;
• one or more leaflets disposed within the housing, each leaflet comprising a semipermeable membrane and a permeate spacer comprising one or more permeate channels, the semipermeable membrane arranged to form a membrane envelope around the permeate spacer;
• and
• a permeate tube disposed along an edge of the semipermeable membrane and fluidically coupled with the one or more permeate channels and the second exit port;
• wherein each semipermeable membrane comprises an outer side fluidically coupled with the first inlet port and the first exit port and an inner side fluidically coupled with the permeate spacer and the one or more permeate channels, the outer side of the membrane configured to receive via the first inlet port the first feed solution stream from the first feed solution source;
• wherein the permeate spacer is fluidically coupled with the second inlet port, the inner side of the membrane configured to receive via the second inlet port the second feed solution stream from the second feed solution source;
• and
• wherein the semipermeable membrane is configured to pass a solvent of the first feed solution stream, in the form of a permeate solution, across the membrane to the one or more permeate channels and through the second exit port via the permeate tube, upon the application of hydrostatic pressure to the first side of the membrane;
• wherein the semipermeable membrane is configured to operate at a hydrostatic pressure on the inner side from about 1% to about 40% of the hydrostatic pressure on the outer side of the membrane.