The reverse osmosis membrane evolution

FilmTec Corp. has discovered and pioneered the use of polyamide composite for fully automated Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane technology for seawater desalination. The new RO technology not only reduces the cost of producing RO membranes, but also improves membrane quality, consistency, and productivity. Improvements in chemistry and full automation in the construction of polyamide material allow more membrane sheets to be fit into each RO element. The introduction of FilmTec elements with flow rates of 7,500 and salt rejections of 99.75%, significantly increases membrane productivity. Field tests have demonstrated that advanced membrane technology from FilmTec can reduce the number of elements and pressure vessels needed to produce target water capacity by 17% to 30%. The desalination plant with total capacity on par with Tampa Bay, extrapolates an annual cost savings of $170,000-800,000, with the new FilmTec RO membrane technology.