MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS FOR INDUSTRIAL SEPARATIONS

High-pH caustic streams are among the most prevalent – and most problematic – liquid process streams in industrial manufacturing. They appear across industries in forms such as spent cooking liquors, wash caustics, and alkaline process water.

Oily and hydrocarbon-contaminated water streams are generated in virtually every industrial sector. The cost of managing these streams is significant – through disposal, treatment, or freshwater replacement. Conventional membrane systems foul rapidly in oily water environments, requiring frequent cleaning or replacement that drives up operating costs and undermines system reliability.

Strong acid streams represent one of the most demanding and consequential challenges in industrial process management. The combination of low pH, oxidizing conditions, and high temperatures destroys conventional membrane materials rapidly. The choice has been between expensive thermal separation, inefficient chemical treatment, or costly disposal.

Distillation has been the backbone of hydrocarbon fractionation for over a century – and it remains one of the most energy-intensive operations in the refinery. Membrane-based hydrocarbon fractionation offers a fundamentally different approach: separating hydrocarbon fractions by molecular size and chemistry at ambient or moderate temperatures, without phase change. The energy savings and economic potential is enormous.