Reverse osmosis (RO) uses a strong pressure gradient to drive water through a semi-permeable membrane, while leaving salts and other larger molecules behind.
These membrane elements have many applications from desalination of brackish waters and seawater to recovery of industrial and municipal wastewater.
The SUEZ portfolio also includes RO elements certified for food contact – dairy, sugar, and other sanitary applications – as well as NSF-certified elements for municipal water treatment.
Nanofiltration employs a smaller pressure gradient than reverse osmosis – with the ability to separate 1mw (molecular weight) molecules and divalent ions.
SUEZ’s nanonfiltration membranes, which are all spiral-wound, are used for a variety of applications, including water softening, metals recovery, dairy processing, protein concentration, sugar processing, and municipal water pre-treatment.
Ultrafiltration using semi-permeable membranes captures small suspended solids, viruses, and other pathogens. These membranes replace tertiary and some forms of secondary wastewater treatment. In process separations, ultrafiltration is used to concentrate protein solutions and to remove oil and organic species.
Microfiltration uses a wider pore size to separate out only larger suspended solids. The membranes made by SUEZ are used in dairy, industrial water, and wine applications. Meanwhile, hollow-fibre ultrafiltration membranes are employed in drinking water and wastewater treatment as well as being a core component of MBR (membrane reactor) wastewater treatment plants.
SUEZ ion-exchange membranes are used in electrodialysis (ED/EDR) and electrodeionisation (EDI) processes.
EDR is used for desalination of brackish waters and ED for demineralisation of a wide variety of industrial process streams. EDI produces ultrapure water for the semiconductor and power industries.
Robust and efficient, these homogeneous ion-exchange membranes are charge-selective to adjust the pH of process streams or to produce acid and caustic directly from a saline feed source.