@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}},
}