Membrane Separations Research

The use of membranes for separating gaseous and liquid mixtures has grown dramatically in the past 15 years. Applications have been dominated by light gas separations and water purification. During this pioneering period, equipment containing the membrane surfaces has been developed to a point where failures are minimal and the membranes themselves are sufficiently rugged. For each application, the membrane material itself is the key to the separation. Among the potential application areas of membranes is that of waste minimization. This area is emphasized in the paper, with recognition that a combination of membranes and other separation techniques may represent the optimal design from a cost-energy point of view. It is concluded that the use of membranes will expand further into the field of industrial separations, with membrane materials being tailor-made to provide both high selectivities and large throughputs