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Purpose <p>Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly deployed for industrial wastewater reuse and minimal liquid discharge applications, yet persistent challenges related to fouling, membrane durability, and long-term operability continue to restrict performance. While the literature on this topic has expanded rapidly, most studies often isolate innovation in membranes, pretreatment, or modelling, with limited reconciliation of these advances in full-scale industrial constraints. This review critically examines recent industrial wastewater RO studies through an explicit innovation-versus-reality lens to assess how reported advances translate across laboratory, pilot, and full-scale contexts.</p> Recent findings <p>Across 36 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025, lab-scale research predominantly emphasizes short-term performance gains, mechanistic fouling diagnostics, advanced pretreatment, and novel membrane materials and surface modifications under controlled conditions. In contrast, reality-leaning full-scale systems prioritize long term performance and operational continuity, regulatory compliance, retrofit compatibility, and manageable cleaning regimes, often at the expense of peak recovery or flux. Transition-zone studies partially bridge this gap by combining real wastewater, commercial modules, and extended operation, demonstrating that scalability and durability, rather than intrinsic performance, are the primary barriers to technology transfer.</p> Summary <p>This review reveals a persistent mismatch between lab-scale RO research and industrial operating realities. Progress in industrial wastewater RO requires a paradigm shift from short-term optimization toward designs explicitly accounting for variability, lifecycle performance, and system integration. No single membrane or pretreatment strategy is universally applicable; effective implementation depends on context-specific alignment between innovation and operational feasibility. Reframing success metrics around sustained industrial viability is essential to accelerate meaningful adoption of RO technologies.</p>

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Bridging Innovation and Operational Reality in Industrial Wastewater Reverse Osmosis for Water Reuse

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月1日

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  • Feli Zulhendri,
  • Antony Simon,
  • Quang Viet Ly

摘要

Purpose

Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly deployed for industrial wastewater reuse and minimal liquid discharge applications, yet persistent challenges related to fouling, membrane durability, and long-term operability continue to restrict performance. While the literature on this topic has expanded rapidly, most studies often isolate innovation in membranes, pretreatment, or modelling, with limited reconciliation of these advances in full-scale industrial constraints. This review critically examines recent industrial wastewater RO studies through an explicit innovation-versus-reality lens to assess how reported advances translate across laboratory, pilot, and full-scale contexts.

Recent findings

Across 36 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025, lab-scale research predominantly emphasizes short-term performance gains, mechanistic fouling diagnostics, advanced pretreatment, and novel membrane materials and surface modifications under controlled conditions. In contrast, reality-leaning full-scale systems prioritize long term performance and operational continuity, regulatory compliance, retrofit compatibility, and manageable cleaning regimes, often at the expense of peak recovery or flux. Transition-zone studies partially bridge this gap by combining real wastewater, commercial modules, and extended operation, demonstrating that scalability and durability, rather than intrinsic performance, are the primary barriers to technology transfer.

Summary

This review reveals a persistent mismatch between lab-scale RO research and industrial operating realities. Progress in industrial wastewater RO requires a paradigm shift from short-term optimization toward designs explicitly accounting for variability, lifecycle performance, and system integration. No single membrane or pretreatment strategy is universally applicable; effective implementation depends on context-specific alignment between innovation and operational feasibility. Reframing success metrics around sustained industrial viability is essential to accelerate meaningful adoption of RO technologies.