New Thin Film Forward Osmosis Membrane Offers Economic Solutions

Hydration Technology Innovations (USA), manufacturer of Forward Osmosis (FO) membranes, have announced the launch of a new durable, dimensionally stable, thin film membrane as a recent addition to their OsMem FO membrane line. Commercial manufacturing of the membrane has commenced. This membrane doubles the permeability and flux rate of Hydration Technology Innovations (HTI) existing membrane, the Cellulose Tri Acetate (CTA) FO membrane.

“We are very pleased with the achievement of this huge milestone in the evolution of Forward Osmosis technology,” said Walt Schultz, CEO of HTI. “The OsMem line of FO membranes has been providing economical and efficient filtration for difficult to treat industrial waste streams, and now we have increased the level of efficiency immensely.With this introduction of the world’s first truly manufacturable high performance FO membrane, OEMs and plant designers will be able to reduce the footprint and investment in FO systems, while capitalising on the many benefits offered by this technology.”

This new composite membrane includes high permeability and is pH tolerant to in a 2.0 to 12.0 pH range. The membrane has been designed to withstand the rigours of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) conditions. The flat sheet flux of production membranes averages 20 LMH in FO mode and 49 LMH in PRO mode at a test condition of 1 M NaCl as draw solute and DI water as feed solution at 23C and CFV (cross flow velocity) of 30 cm/sec. The product is also testing at a power rating of 3.5W/m2 for PRO at 10C at 150psi. Comparatively, HTI’s CTA FO membrane has a flux of 9 LMH. Salt rejection values for the new product also compare favorably for polyamide membranes at 99.3% minimum.

HTI’s EVP and CTO, Upen Bharwada, indicated, “The HTI team’s internal assessment of applications in the strike zone of FO/PRO represent a cumulative systems revenue potential of $900 million over a four year period through 2017.”

This thin film composite from HTI offers an economic alternative to treating industrial wastewater by offering a pre-treatment to RO. The membrane will also offer increased success in other applications such as Oil & Gas Wastewater, Landfill Leachate, Cooling Tower Mark-Up Water and Osmotic Membrane Bioreactors.