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• Microfiltration
• Ultrafiltration
• Nanofiltration
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• Membrane Selection
• VSEP: Membrane Tech
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• Industrial Effluent Treatment
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Membrane Technology

Membrane Technology is now well established in the fields of filtration and separation, and is increasingly being used to supplement and replace conventional separation techniques. These technologies are being adopted across a broad range of industrial sectors for the treatment of complex effluents, product purification and recovery, and water reuse applications.

Membranes act as a physical barrier, designed to exclude fine particles and/or specific ionic/nonionic species dependent upon the membrane construction and pore size. The membrane filtration spectrum includes:

• Microfiltration, whereby particles are rejected based on their physical size, and membranes are usually classified by a micron rating.
• Ultrafiltration, membrane grading based on the nominal Molecular Weight Cut-Off (MWCO).
• Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis which can produce extremely high quality water.

Each membrane separation rating is available in a number of different membrane geometries depending upon the characteristics and requirements of each individual application (see membrane selection).

Material excluded at the membrane surface can be removed from that surface by a variety of means to prevent the fouling and subsequent deterioration in the operation of the membrane. ESMIL use a variety of membrane manufacturers, as well as membranes developed by its own research facility, which best suit each unique wastewater composition. In many cases, membrane lifetime is dramatically improved by use of conventional technology as a pretreatment stage.

Treated effluent passed through the membrane (the permeate) can be discharged to sewer or directly to the environment. Alternatively, it can potentially be recycled through the process system dependent upon the specific application. In many situations the use of Membrane Technology allows as much as 95% of wastewater to be reused for clean water applications.

Benefits of Membrane Technology include:

• Optimum product recovery, reducing losses of material in waste.
• Reduction in effluent disposal, where permeate is reused and/or recycled.
• Improved effluent quality, to meet environmental standards.
• Advanced technology for improved reliability and ease of operation.
• Lower capital costs, derived from having fewer process stages thus reducing civil engineering costs.
• Rapid returns on investment, achieved through reduced effluent and sludge disposal costs, and lower water use.
• Robust treatment processes, reliably providing excellent final effluent quality which is largely unaffected by shock loading, or by influent toxins, temperature and quality variations.
• Availability as modular plant, allowing flexible plant upgrade to suit the space available and specific treatment capacity and quality requirements.