What is the membrane separation?
The membrane separation is a technique used in science and industry to separate substances from the mixture by filtering this mixture through a porous membrane. The filtered substance can be either liquid or gas. The membrane separation has many practical applications, including water filtration and creating concentrated solutions. The main types of membrane separation processes are reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and microfiltration.
When a solution or gas or gas passes through a porous membrane under high pressure, certain substances from this mixture penetrate the membrane into the lower pressure area, but other substances will not be proven. The consistency and chemical composition of the membrane determines which materials pass. For example, a membrane that has larger pores will tend to chase large and small particles and a membrane that has smaller pores will eliminate larger particles. Similarly, membrane has a specific chemical composition, it can be designed to chemically filter out certain compounds.
In reverse osmosis, two solutions are contained on the opposite sides of the membrane - which is more concentrated and the other, which is more watery or less concentrated. The natural tendency of water to dispersing from the area of low concentration to the high concentration area is perverted by pressure applied to a highly concentrated solution. This causes water to flow from a highly concentrated solution through the membrane, so that this solution is even more concentrated by removing the water. This process can produce evaporated milk and other condensed products.
nanofiltration is usually used in water processing to remove salty taste or undesirable mineral content. This method removes salt such as sodium and potassium, from liquid. The membranes that are used in nanofiltration, which has a slightly larger pore size than those used in reverse osmosis.
Ultrafiltration and microfiltration are used to separate largerh particles and at the same time release smaller particles with a membrane. Viruses, bacteria and suspended solids are larger with these membranes. Ultrafiltration or microfiltration are often used in conjunction with a finer filter method as part of the overall industrial process.
Many industries use membrane separation as part of their routine operations. For example, the removal of harmful salts and minerals that could create a scale or corrosion in source water is important when operating boilers. The membrane separation can also be used to regenerate chemical compounds from the waste current. Desalination is another method in which the separation of the membrane widely uses to produce high quality drinking water.