Thin Beet Juice Concentration with Forward Osmosis
(2026) METM01 20261Chemical Engineering (M.Sc.Eng.)
- Abstract
- Sugar production is an energy-intensive industry that heavily relies on thermal evaporation for juice concentration, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Growing pressure to improve industrial sustainability has driven interest in alternative concentration technologies.
Forward osmosis (FO) has emerged as a promising non-thermal membrane process that utilizes osmotic pressure difference rather than hydraulic pressure or heat, enabling concentration at mild operating conditions.
Although FO has been extensively investigated for fruit juice concentration, limited research has focused on its application for sugar beet thin juice concentration. Previous studies mainly focused on achieving high water flux using... (More) - Sugar production is an energy-intensive industry that heavily relies on thermal evaporation for juice concentration, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Growing pressure to improve industrial sustainability has driven interest in alternative concentration technologies.
Forward osmosis (FO) has emerged as a promising non-thermal membrane process that utilizes osmotic pressure difference rather than hydraulic pressure or heat, enabling concentration at mild operating conditions.
Although FO has been extensively investigated for fruit juice concentration, limited research has focused on its application for sugar beet thin juice concentration. Previous studies mainly focused on achieving high water flux using synthetic draw solutions, while comparatively little
attention has been given to the use of industrial by-products as draw solutions. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, offers potential as an alternative draw solution due to its compatibility with the sugar production process. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of FO for thin juice concentration using molasses as a draw solution. The effect of operating parameters including draw solution type, concentration, flow rate, feed-to-draw ratio, temperature were investigated. Experiments were performed with commercially available polymeric membranes for FO, reverse osmosis (RO), and nanofiltration (NF). Process performance
was evaluated through transmembrane flux behavior and analysis of juice quality parameters.
The results demonstrated that molasses successfully functioned as a draw solution, and increasing draw solution concentration, crossflow velocity, and temperature enhanced water flux due to improved osmotic driving force. Despite promising results, concentration polarization and fouling were a major limitation that reduced the process efficiency. In the comparative trials of different polymeric membranes, the cellulose triacetate FO membrane exhibited the highest
flux. The long-term concentration experiment achieved avolume reduction of 0.5 and increased thin juice concentration from 16.0 to 27.9 %RDS.
These findings show the potential of FO as an alternative concentration technology for sugar production, particularly when integrated with industrial byproducts. Further optimization of hydrodynamic conditions and membrane design are needed to improve process performance and facilitate industrial implementation. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- The traditional beet sugar production consists of several steps: pretreatment, extraction, beet juice purification by liming, beet juice concentration, and crystallization. This process requires large amounts of heat and energy, especially during evaporation of sugar beet juice. Extensive effort was made by researchers to eliminate industrial pollution and optimize energy consumption during the sugar production. One of the most promising options is forward osmosis, a new generation membrane-based process.
This project examined the potential use of forward osmosis for concentration of sugar beet thin juice. The main focus of the study was the use of molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, as
a draw solution. Utilization of internal... (More) - The traditional beet sugar production consists of several steps: pretreatment, extraction, beet juice purification by liming, beet juice concentration, and crystallization. This process requires large amounts of heat and energy, especially during evaporation of sugar beet juice. Extensive effort was made by researchers to eliminate industrial pollution and optimize energy consumption during the sugar production. One of the most promising options is forward osmosis, a new generation membrane-based process.
This project examined the potential use of forward osmosis for concentration of sugar beet thin juice. The main focus of the study was the use of molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, as
a draw solution. Utilization of internal byproducts instead of synthetic salt solutions could improve integration and reduce the risk of product contamination.
This work evaluated the influence of several operating parameters on membrane performance, and three different polymeric membranes were tested. Process performance was assessed through flux measurements and compositional analysis of juice before and after the process.
The results showed that operating parameters strongly influence the forward osmosis performance. However, concentration polarization remains a significant challenge that reduces the water flux.External concentration polarization can be partially minimized by improving hydrodynamic conditions, but internal concentration is governed mainly by membrane structure and can be reduced through appropriate membrane selection and support layer design. Molasses was successfully used as a draw solution throughout the study, although its high viscosity and fouling potential reduced flux compared to sodium chloride solutions with similar osmotic pres
sure. Long-term experiment demonstrated that substantial concentration of thin juice could still be achieved.
The study highlights the potential of forward osmosis as a lower-temperature alternative for juice concentration and industrial byproducts such as molasses can be integrated into membrane-based processes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9247849
- author
- Ibrayeva, Zhanerke LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- METM01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- beet sugar, molasses, forward osmosis, membrane technology, chemical engineering
- language
- English
- id
- 9247849
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-24 11:45:02
- date last changed
- 2026-08-24 11:45:02
@misc{9247849,
abstract = {{Sugar production is an energy-intensive industry that heavily relies on thermal evaporation for juice concentration, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Growing pressure to improve industrial sustainability has driven interest in alternative concentration technologies.
Forward osmosis (FO) has emerged as a promising non-thermal membrane process that utilizes osmotic pressure difference rather than hydraulic pressure or heat, enabling concentration at mild operating conditions.
Although FO has been extensively investigated for fruit juice concentration, limited research has focused on its application for sugar beet thin juice concentration. Previous studies mainly focused on achieving high water flux using synthetic draw solutions, while comparatively little
attention has been given to the use of industrial by-products as draw solutions. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, offers potential as an alternative draw solution due to its compatibility with the sugar production process. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of FO for thin juice concentration using molasses as a draw solution. The effect of operating parameters including draw solution type, concentration, flow rate, feed-to-draw ratio, temperature were investigated. Experiments were performed with commercially available polymeric membranes for FO, reverse osmosis (RO), and nanofiltration (NF). Process performance
was evaluated through transmembrane flux behavior and analysis of juice quality parameters.
The results demonstrated that molasses successfully functioned as a draw solution, and increasing draw solution concentration, crossflow velocity, and temperature enhanced water flux due to improved osmotic driving force. Despite promising results, concentration polarization and fouling were a major limitation that reduced the process efficiency. In the comparative trials of different polymeric membranes, the cellulose triacetate FO membrane exhibited the highest
flux. The long-term concentration experiment achieved avolume reduction of 0.5 and increased thin juice concentration from 16.0 to 27.9 %RDS.
These findings show the potential of FO as an alternative concentration technology for sugar production, particularly when integrated with industrial byproducts. Further optimization of hydrodynamic conditions and membrane design are needed to improve process performance and facilitate industrial implementation.}},
author = {{Ibrayeva, Zhanerke}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Thin Beet Juice Concentration with Forward Osmosis}},
year = {{2026}},
}