Membrane Separation
Viewpoints
2023
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November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
Reflective Membranes Increase Power Output of Bifacial Photovoltaic Modules
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July:
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June:
Alkaline-Electrolyzer Production Gears Up to Meet Green-Hydrogen Demand
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May:
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April:
Proton-Ceramic Membranes: Producing Hydrogen and Capturing Carbon Dioxide in One Step
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March:
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February:
Membrane-Based Floating Photovoltaics: Bobbing through Rough Waters
2022
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December/January:
2022: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2023 -
November:
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October:
Greener Refining: Use of Polymer Membranes to Fractionate Crude Oils
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Membrane from Recycled Kevlar for Long-Life Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2021
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December/January:
2021: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2022 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
Graphene-Oxide Desalination Membranes
Technology in Brief: Nanomaterial Membranes -
February:
Nanoscale Desalination Modeling
Technology in Brief: Separation Techniques
Archived Viewpoints
2020
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December/January:
2020: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2021 -
November:
Carbon Capture from the Atmosphere
Opportunities in Gas Separation -
October:
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September:
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August:
Limit-Breaking Carbon-Capture Polymer
Recycling Precious Metals from Electronics -
July:
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June:
The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Clean Energy
Scenarios Presentation: The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Technology Development
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May:
The Pandemic Crisis: Key Forces That Will Shape the Future of Clean Energy
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April:
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March:
Water-Conducting Membranes
New Membrane for Oxygenating Blood -
February:
Antifouling Oil-Separation Membrane
Investments in Membranes for Wastewater Treatment
2019
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December/January:
2019: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2020 -
November:
World's Largest Proton-Exchange-Membrane Electrolyzer
Nanomembrane Toilets: Improving Sanitation -
October:
Three-Core Hollow-Fiber Membrane Repurposes Semiconductor Wastes
Zeolite Membranes: Selective Pores for CO2 -
September:
Pulsing-Bubble Membrane Bioreactor: Saving Energy and Costs
3D-Printed Spacer Membranes: Revolutionizing Filtration -
August:
Power-to-Gas: Making Green Hydrogen
Membranes for Pressure-Retarded Osmosis -
July:
Osmotically Assisted Reverse Osmosis: Treating High-Salinity Water
Passive Solar Desalination: Reusing Solar Heat -
June:
Suez Expands the Membrane Bioreactor Market
Recycled-Material Membranes -
May:
Container-Size Seawater Desalination
Purifying Wastewater to Drinking Water in California -
April:
Facebook's Singapore Data Center Goes Green with Liquid Cooling
New Membranes for Energy Storage: Going with the Flow Batteries -
March:
Vacuum Multieffect Membrane Distillation to Produce Ultrapure Water
Geothermal Membrane-Distillation Desalination -
February:
Zeolite Membranes Finally Penetrate the US Ethanol Market
3D-Printed Membranes Improve Wastewater Cleanup
2018
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December/January:
2018: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2019 -
November:
Membrane Tanks: Storing More Liquefied Natural Gas
Artificial-Leaf Photosynthetic Fuels: Still Unable to Outshine Nature -
October:
Clean Water from Manure: No Water Runoff
Solar-Thermal Membrane Desalination: A Hot Future for Cheap Clean Water -
September:
Membrane Dehydrates Ethanol More Efficiently
Large-Scale Carbon-Nanotube-Membrane Production -
August:
Graphene-Oxide Membrane Filters Organic Solutions
Ceramic Membrane Produces High-Purity Compressed Hydrogen in One Step -
July:
Superhydrophilic Membranes: Cleaning Fracking Water without Fouling
Platinum-Free Catalyst Membrane to Enable Cheaper Fuel Cells -
June:
iThrone: A Breakthrough Waterless Toilet
Membranes to Clean Fracking Water and Extract Lithium -
May:
Membrane-Encapsulated Stem Cells: Artificial Pancreas for Type 1 Diabetes
Synthetic Purple Membrane Transforms Sunlight to Hydrogen -
April:
Graphene/Graphene Oxide Membrane Desalination: Not for Drinking
Electrochemical Desalination: Challenging Reverse-Osmosis Dominance -
March:
Ultrafast Graphene Dialysis Membrane
Liquid-Metal Membranes: Lowering Fuel-Cell-Vehicle Cost -
February:
CO2 Capture Directly from Air
SodaStream Water Filtering Fizzles
2017
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December/January:
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November:
Membrane Extracts Hydrogen from Renewable Ammonia
Membrane Extracts Lithium from Brine: Outshining Evaporation
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October:
Koch's High-Flow Ultrafiltration Membranes: Catching on Slowly
Solar-Membrane Distillation Desalination: A New Way to Quench Thirst
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September:
Brackish-Water Desalination: Enabling Ample Alternative Water Supplies
Controlling Graphene Oxide Sieve Size: Allowing Only Water to Pass Through -
August:
Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactors: From Waste Disposal to Resource Recovery
New Membrane to Reduce Dialysis Cost: A New Lease on Life -
July:
Drinking Recycled Sewage Water: Overcoming the Yuck Factor
Public and Private Water-Treatment Partnerships: Wave of the Future -
June:
LNG Carriers: Goodbye Dome Storage, Hello Membrane Containers
Japan Pursues Agriculture Waste to Renewable Hydrogen -
May:
Sweet Demonstration: Membrane System Converts Cellulosic Sugarcane to Ethanol
Ceramic Membrane Converts Methane to Benzene -
April:
Pervaporation Desalinates Seawater in Arid North Africa
Fixed-Site-Carrier Membranes: One Step Closer to Lowering CO2-Capture Cost -
March:
Membranes Convert Low-Temperature Waste Heat to Electricity
Designer Membranes: Next-Generation Chemical Separation -
February:
Desalination in China
New Hollow-Fiber Membrane Separates Nitrogen from Air
2016
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December/January:
2016: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2017 -
November:
Forward Osmosis Reduces Wastewater in Oil and Gas Production
Membrane-Distillation Desalination Using Waste Heat -
October:
Carbon-Nanotube Membranes in Military Uniform
Biosensor for Influenza Detection -
September:
Filtration-Membrane-Module Paradigm Shift: Open-Platform Design
Wearable Smart Graphene Patch Manages Diabetes -
August:
Five Desalination Pilot Plants Compete to Provide Clean Water
Hybrid Membrane Captures CO2 from Power Plants -
July:
Hydrogen Membrane Separation for a Coal-to-Liquids Project in China
Steam Turbines for Desalination: Freezing Seawater -
June:
Seawater-Sulfate-Removal Membrane for Offshore-Oil Production
Platelet-Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles: A Potent Antibiotic -
May:
More Cross-Links Improve Reverse-Osmosis Membranes
Forward Osmosis to Reduce Man-Made Earthquakes -
April:
World's First Forward-Osmosis Zero-Liquid-Discharge Power Plant
Microfluidic Oxygenator: Safer Than Lung Ventilators -
March:
Hollow-Fiber Membranes Enable Waterless Flushing Toilets
Spiral Aerobic Biofilm with Zero Aeration Power Consumption -
February:
Synthetic Aquaporin Membranes: Mimicking Living Cells to Filter Water
Forward Osmosis: Bleak Prospects for Seawater Desalination
2015
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December/January:
2015: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2016 -
November:
Membrane-Market Growth: Meeting Demand for Clean Water
Solar-Powered Desalination -
October:
Carlsbad Desalination Project: San Diego Taps the Pacific
Graphene Oxide Membranes: First Step to Graphene-Based Desalination -
September:
Combining the Best of Hollow and Flat-Plate Membranes
Electrolysis for Storing Surplus Renewable Energy -
August:
Closed-Circuit Desalination: A Reverse-Osmosis Breakthrough
Membrane Distillation Cleans High-Salinity Fracking Water -
July:
Crystalline Zeolite Membranes Prolong Life of Redox-Flow Batteries
Biofilms Enter Mainstream Wastewater Treatment -
June:
Membranes Replace Cryogenic Separation of Light Olefins
Smart Membranes Dispense Drug Dosage on Demand -
May:
Hybrid Desalination Expands Markets for Reverse Osmosis
Membranes Enable Lithium-Air-Battery Development -
April:
Membrane Bioreactors Enable Self-Sustaining Energy from Biowaste
Ceramic Membrane Converts Flaring Gas to Chemicals -
March:
Dow's SEAMAXX: The New Standard in Desalination-Energy Efficiency
Graphyne's Potential to Revolutionize Desalination -
February:
Reverse Osmosis Cleans Hydraulic-Fracking-Flowback Water for Reuse
Researchers Advance Nanocomposite Zeolite Membranes for Xylene Separation
2014
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December/January:
2014: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2015 -
November:
New Forward-Osmosis System Uses 80% Less Energy Than Reverse-Osmosis System Uses
New Highly Durable Multifunctional Water-Filtration Membrane -
October:
Ultra-Low-Pressure and Highly Durable Reverse-Osmosis Membranes
A Growing Trend toward Mobile-Water Treatment -
September:
New Electrochemical Desalination Technology
Swiss Researchers Produce the Thinnest Membrane Feasible -
August:
Pilot Trial Arrangement for Coal-to-Chemical Project in China
New Nanofiber Membranes Edge toward Commercialization -
July:
New Purification Solution for Deionized Water
First Large-Scale Use of Lanxess's Antifouling Technology in Europe -
June:
From Plastic Bags to High-Tech Nanomaterial
New Membrane Material: Janus Nanotubes -
May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2013
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December/January:
2013: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2014 -
November:
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2012
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December/January:
2012: The Year in Review
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November:
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October:
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2011
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December/January:
2011: The Year in Review
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November:
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July:
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2010
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December/January:
2010: The Year in Review
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November:
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October:
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June:
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February:
2009
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December/January:
2009: The Year in Review
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November:
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October:
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August:
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2008
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December/January:
2008: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2009 -
November:
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February:
2007
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December/January:
2007: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2008 -
November:
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February:
2006
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December/January:
2006: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2007 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
Membrane Biopharmaceutical Processing: Problems and Solutions
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2005
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December/January:
2005: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2006 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
Packaged Wastewater Treatment Plants: A Membrane Bioreactor Opportunity
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April:
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March:
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February:
2004
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December/January:
2004: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2005 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Recent Developments in High-Temperature Membranes for PEMFCs
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2003
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December/January:
2003: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2004 -
November:
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2002
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December/January:
2002: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2003 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
Membranes in Shipboard Systems
Recent Developments: Membrane to Reduce Boron Levels in Seawater -
July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2001
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December/January:
2001: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2002 -
November:
The Ceramic Membranes Market
Players: eFiltration: Back to Filtration Group Inc. after 20 Months -
October:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
Biofouling Solutions in Reverse Osmosis
Recent Developments: Arsenic Standards -
March:
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February:
2000
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December/January:
2000: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2001 -
November:
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1999
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December/January:
1999: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2000 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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Before August 1999, the Explorer service was called TechMonitoring, and Viewpoints were TechLinks.
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July:
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June:
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February:
1998
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December/January:
1998: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1999 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Highlights of the 10th Annual North American Membrane Society Meeting
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February:
1997
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December/January:
1997: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1998 -
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1996
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December/January:
1996: The Year in Review
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December/January:
1995: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1996
About Membrane Separation
Membrane separations eliminate the thermal degradation, chemical changes, and azeotropic-recovery limitation that can occur in distillation or evaporation. For this reason, membrane separations are suitable for separating temperature-sensitive products. In addition, they are often less energy intensive than conventional separation processes, and the separation systems are modular, allowing very easy scale-up of processes. Eight major membrane-separation processes—microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, electrodeionization, gas separation, and pervaporation—are in use in such application areas as desalination, water purification (drinking water, wastewater, and ultrapure water), chemical and food processing, biopharmaceutical manufacturing, drug delivery, drug discovery, bioseparations, and medical treatment.
Synthetic membranes constitute a growing market and are providing enhanced separation capabilities in a wide variety of industries. Companies have invested in developing membrane-separation processes to perform separations that other, more conventional separation processes—such as evaporation, distillation, or extraction—cannot perform or to perform separations whose membrane processes are more efficient. Such investments can result in the creation of new business opportunities as costs for membrane systems come down or as new membrane-separation techniques become technically feasible.
New membranes will operate under a wider range of temperatures and chemical environments and will provide more selective separations than are now possible. Increased global concern for the environment, demand for clean water, and energy efficiency are likely to result in increased opportunities for membrane separation technologies.