Essay On Membrane Technology

Membrane technology is arguably the most economical, innovative and environment friendly that can be applied in water and wastewater treating. History has shown that no other new technology has had so much positive effects in the last century. Due to its ability to solve many different water treatment problems it is the choice of many industries seeking to reuse their waste water and reduce their water footprint.

Membranes work by providing barriers that permit or prevent the passage of materials of certain size, shape or other property. With a near infinite range of materials and substances alternate and better configurations have led to the advancement and development of membrane technology. With that being said, this literature review seeks to explore the various configurations and advances in membrane technology for water and waste water treatment.

No technology is perfect thus, this literature review also highlight the many limitations of this innovative technology

Membrane Technology Overview

With growing advancement there are various membranes manufactured today and these are classified according to their different features

• Origin

• Material

• Morphology and structure

• Manufacturing process

Membranes can either be of biological or synthetic origin. In waste water treatment only synthetic membranes are used. Depending on the composition of the water and operational requirements different materials are used for membranes.

Organic or synthetic polymer membranes are used predominantly at present because it is possible to select a polymer for a specific separation problem from the existing large number of polymers. They are also cheaper. Inorganic membranes have gain their importance where organic membranes has been exclu...

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b) Filtrate quality produced is independent of the raw feed water conditions. Therefore, any variations in raw water quality posses a reduced impact on the overall plant operation.

c) Due to the ability to consistently produce good filtrate quality, raw feedwater conditions do not affect the RO membrane system availability.

d) Good quality filtrate is produced immediately upon startup, thereby increasing the operational efficiency of the overall plant.

e) The ability to eliminate or significantly reduce the use of floculants and flocculation aids.

The advantage translates to reduced chemical consumption, handling and the elimination of the auxiliary equipment necessary to support this process.

f) Disposal of backwash is much less problematic. With the elimination or significant reduction in floculant consumption, backwash disposal becomes a less significant issue.