Industrial membrane separation technology

Abstract

The membrane technology of today is very different from the conventional chemical unit operations a few years ago. Major advances have taken place both in the sophistication of the technology and also in the degrees of its use by industry. The ultimate goal yet to be achieved by these separation techniques is to completely replace conventional separational processes such as flash distillation and evaporation which have much higher energy requirements. It is imperative that, in a world like today’s, where the energy demands of most countries are rising continuously, techniques utilising less energy are further developed. These membrane processes are also aesthetically favourable in that they are environmentally much less harmful than other separation processes.