Design, Construction and Testing of a Food Safe Forward Osmosis Concentrating Pilot Scale Demonstration Platform

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Many food applications involve concentration processes that require products with exceptionally high levels of total dissolved solids and in many cases, the concentration is performed using extreme thermal methods to evaporate the water and concentrate the solids. These methods are energy- and Greenhouse Gas-intensive, expensive, and can destroy key nutrients in the food product. Developing a new cost effective, low energy method of concentrating food-based products can minimize or eliminate the need for thermal evaporative methods and provide a more sustainable and environmentally conscious solution for clean water treatment. Forward Water Technologies (FWT) was founded by GreenCentre Canada, a chemistry and materials accelerator created to aid in the commercial development of new clean technologies discovered by researchers and entrepreneurs in Canada. FWT's technology was originally discovered at Queen's University in Kingston, ON and further developed by GreenCentre where it was spun-out for for-profit commercialization in 2012. The technology focuses on the treatment of industrial wastewater which typically involves high cost disposal requirements from excessive transportation, evaporation, or incineration which can reach upwards of $750/cubic meter of waste. FWT has developed a forward osmosis water treatment process to dramatically lower the final waste volumes which will subsequently lower overall treatment costs, reduce energy requirements, and return clean water for re-use in operations or direct discharge. In collaboration with Lambton College's Lambton Water Centre, Forward Water Technologies plans to develop a pilot scale demonstration platform to test the applicability of the forward osmosis process on food-based applications.