SIVA supports you in the design and fabrication of nanofiltration systems for the separation of molecules and/or ions in solution.
Principle of nanofiltration
Nanofiltration is a physical separation technology. Porous membranes with pore sizes between 2 and 0.5nm are used to separate matters such as small molecules and polyvalent ions in a liquid solution.
In this separation technology the solution is recirculated tangentially to the surface of the filtration media, the porous membrane. Part of the solution passes through the membrane and is clarified. The membrane filtration technology relies on the creation of a pressure difference to enable the retention of solutes larger than the pore size of the membrane while allowing the solvent to pass through the membrane. The same principle applies to microfiltration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, membranes of different pore sizes are used to separate different particles.
The selection of the membrane material will depend on multiple variables, which are detailed in: membrane separation processes.
This proven technology is used in numerous industries such as the Food & Beverage, Biopharma and Environment.
Nanofiltration
The advantages of the nanofiltration are:
- Separation that cannot be achieved by other physical separation technologies
- Superior separation quality and performance as a result of the continuous cleaning of the membrane surface by the solution in recirculation tangentially to it
- A continuous separation process with the possibility of feeding a downstream process without interruptions, different from chromatography
- A physical separation technology without phase transition, which allows the treatment of sensitive liquids without denaturation of their components, different from evaporation, distillation and liquid-liquid extraction
- A separation technology without additives and environment-friendly, different from diatomaceous earth filtration
- An automated process, which does not require frequent operator intervention
Application fields of nanofiltration
Nanofiltration has been developed for the water treatment, separation of substances such as microcontaminants, pesticides, heavy metals, nitrates, organic dyes and water softening (separation of calcium and magnesium ions).
This technology is also applied in the partial or complete demineralization of lactoserum in the Food & Beverage industry, the concentration/purification of active pharmaceutical ingredients in the pharmaceutical industry, etc.