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Wastewater Treatment
Technology Tutorial
Membrane
Filtration
The three main types of membrane-based
filtration technologies include reverse osmosis,
nanofilitration, and ultrafiltration.
Although categorized as different technologies, the
three types of membrane filtration have a great deal
in common. All three act as membranes created by coating
a thin layer of a very porous polymer, or plastic, onto
a backing material. The end result is the finest form
of filtration presently known, with reverse osmosis
being the smallest, nanofiltration being a slight step
larger and ultrafiltration being a bit larger again.
The pore sizes are typically measured
in Angstroms (one billionth of a meter) and thus are
extremely tiny. These membrane technologies offer a
host of advantages over traditional filtration. Due
to the fine pore space and indiscrimination of influents
of these membrane filtration systems, a very high quality
effluent emerges. Additionally, membrane technologies
typically take up only a fraction of the space needed
for other tertiary treatment systems. The disadvantage
of having extremely fine pores means that clogging is
a frequent and costly problem with membrane filtration
technologies.
Source:
E.
Alonso, A. Santos, G.J. Solis, and P. Riesco. "On
the feasibility of urban wastewater tertiary treatment
by membranes: a comparative assessment." Desalination
141 (2001) 39-51.
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