Membrane & Separation Technology News articles from March 2001

Membrane & Separation Technology News archives from March 2001

REVERSE OSMOSIS The Bane of Biofouling.
March 1, 2001... Biofouling is one of the last major unresolved problems affecting reverse osmosis (RO) processes. Many RO systems are installed to reduce microbial contaminants as part of their treatment objective, including the preparation of U.S....

FR Elements Battle Biofilm.
March 1, 2001... Dow Filmtec is field testing its third generation of biofoulant- resistant RO membranes, a surface-modified aromatic polyamide element based on Dow's FT30. Known as FR (fouling resistant), the first generation of spiral-wound thin film...

Charged Biocides Abolish Bacteria.
March 1, 2001... BetzDearborn and Buckman Labs have developed a chemical treatment for minimizing biological and/or colloidal fouling in RO systems that includes an anionic phosphonate antiscalant and a cationically charged biocide. Betz and Buckman...

Copper and Oxidants Contain Foulants.
March 1, 2001... Baker Hughes, Inc. hopes to beat biofouling with a process that doses desalination plants with low levels of oxidizing agents and even lower quantities of copper ions through a multipoint dispensing system. The method, applicable to...

MICROFILTRATION: MF May Minimize Recycling Costs.
March 1, 2001... According to CSIRO author N. Booker, microfiltration could hold the key to developing small, affordable communal graywater recycling systems, while conventional methods offer better economics for large-scale graywater treatment. In part...

NANOFILTRATION: Dow Addresses Drinking Water.
March 1, 2001... Dow Chemical debuted nanofiltration membranes for municipal water treatment at the AWWA Membrane Technology Conference in San Antonio, Texas. The membrane line is designed to tackle future global water needs in the face of tighter regulations...

ED AND FUEL CELL: Modified Membranes Cut Catalyst Poisoning.
March 1, 2001... Princeton University researchers are adding inorganics, then turning up the heat to improve the performance of perfluorsulfonic acid membranes used in proton exchange fuel cells for transportation and small-scale power generation. PEM fuel...

KIER Cheaper, Needs No Nafion.
March 1, 2001... Form a melted membrane, then activate it. Researchers at the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) say the simple method for making membrane electrode assemblies for PEM fuel cells will reduce fabrication costs significantly. The KIER...

NON-SEPARATING: Breathable Films Protect Produce.
March 1, 2001... Landec Corp. and subsidiary Apio, marketers of the Eat Smart brand of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, hope to begin wrapping Landec's Intellipac breathable membranes around bananas, a sizable potential market for the companies. Intellipac...

MARKETS AND APPLICATIONS PIMA Targets RO Market.
March 1, 2001... PIMA Desalination, a laser-based water treatment from Spectrum Technology Corp., intends to give RO a run for its money. PIMA (photonic, ionization, manipulation, and augmentation) claims to offer 50% lower capital costs, 60% lower energy...

INDUSTRY NEWS: DuPont Forms Fuel-Cell Unit.
March 1, 2001... DuPont, manufacturer of the Nafion membrane, a major component in 90% of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells; has formed its own fuel-cell business to pursue a share in the burgeoning market. The company has opened a...

Joint Venture Offers Tastier Water Option.
March 1, 2001... After successful test-marketing in 2000, Crystal Choice Water Service, a joint venture of San Jose Water Co. and Kinetico, is bringing 'tastier,' softer water to San Jose customers. Kinetico's Waterplant total home water treatment system, which...

Whatman Purchases HemaSure's Assets.
March 1, 2001... Whatman has agreed to purchase the assets of blood filter manufacturer HemaSure (excluding cash), its cash equivalents and marketable securities, and assume the company's liabilities. Under terms of the agreement, the purchase price consists of...

Funding Will Further Hollow-Fiber Liver.
March 1, 2001... The Xenogenics subsidiary of Exten Industries, Inc. and Compact Membrane Systems will receive a SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate methods of extending liver cell life in Xenogenics' Sybiol bioartificial liver. ...

In the News.
March 1, 2001... Pall Forms Life Science Group. Pall Corp. (East Hills, NY) has formed a Life Sciences Group to support the needs of researchers and biotechnology developers across the spectrum of life sciences. The operating unit, shaped through the...

Recent Patents.
March 1, 2001... Sartorius' Integrity-Testable Membranes Retain Hydrophilicity. In U.S. Patent 6,186,341, Sartorius (Gottingen, Germany) describes a manufacturing method that eliminates some pitfalls encountered in forming hydrophilic, integrity-testable...

Selected Abstracts.
March 1, 2001... New All-Inorganic Membrane Flaw-Free but Fouling Prone. University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada) researchers have undertaken the fabrication, characterization, and preliminary testing of all- inorganic ultrafiltration membranes composed entirely...

INDUSTRY INSIGHT Membrane Fouling - Issues & Answers.
March 1, 2001... By Peter S. Cartwright, P.E. Cartwright Consulting Co. 8324 16th Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55425 Tel: 952/854-4911 Fax: 952/854-6964 The cross-flow, pressure-driven membrane technologies microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and...

Fouling Materials.
March 1, 2001... Insoluble Materials. Most feedwater contains insoluble materials, including dirt, clay, colloidal particles or film-forming organic materials, which plug membrane pores, inhibiting normal water permeation. Insoluble contaminants can usually be...

Optimum Prefiltration/Pretreatment.
March 1, 2001... By accurately identifying the contaminants in a feedwater stream that could foul a membrane and by designing a prefiltration or pretreatment scheme to specifically remove them, fouling potential of a given water supply can be significantly...

Membrane Selection.
March 1, 2001... There are basically four membrane element configurations in common use today: * Spiral wound * Plate and frame * Capillary fiber * Tubular In terms of cost and fouling resistance, each configuration has its strengths and...

Design Considerations.
March 1, 2001... Recovery. 'Recovery' is a measure of the overall membrane system efficiency, defined as the permeate rate divided by the feed-flow rate, and is usually expressed as a percentage. Recovery can apply to either an individual membrane element or a...

Cleaning and Disinfection.
March 1, 2001... Just as there are an almost endless array of fouling materials, there are equally numerous chemical cleaners developed for specific classes of foulants: acids for removal of scalants such as ferric hydroxide and calcium carbonate, caustics for...

Conclusion.
March 1, 2001... The above approaches to fouling minimization are not mutually exclusive. The best solution is usually a combination of two or more approaches, as required. A thorough understanding of membrane technologies, device configurations, and feedwater...