SIVA supports you in the design and fabrication of reverse osmosis systems for the separation of ions in solution.
Principle of reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis is a physical separation technology. Semipermeable membranes are used to separate matters such as poly and monovalent ions in a liquid.
Osmosis is a separation technology in which the concentration gradient drives the transfer of the solvent through the membrane. In a system with two compartments, each containing liquids with different concentrations and divided by a semipermeable membrane, the osmosis is the flow of the solvent through the membrane from the high concentration compartment to the low concentration compartment.
If a pression is applied to the high concentration side, the flow of the solvent will be reduced. At a certain pressure, the flow will stop completely: this pression is called the osmotic pressure, P (assuming that the low concentration compartment contains pure water). If a pressure greater than P is applied, the solvent flows to the opposite direction (towards the low concentration compartment): this is the phenomenon of reverse osmosis.
This proven technology is used in numerous industries such as the Food & Beverage, Biopharma and Environment.
Application fields of reverse osmosis
The reverse osmosis is mainly used in:
- the complete demineralization of lactoserum
- the desalinization of seawater and brackish water
- treatment of industrial wastewater
- water potabilization
- production of ultrapure water for the pharmaceutical and electronics industries