Nanofiltration--An Overview of Technology Development Status and Trends

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Nanofiltration--An Overview of Technology Development Status and Trends provides an overview of the developments taking place within this industry, together with an analysis of the current market and technological trends. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following applications: water and wastewater treatment, processing of water, and a wide range of industries such as chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, paper, textile and food.

Technology Overview

Technological Developments in Membrane Materials Boost Innovation in the Nanofiltration Market

Contrary to the popular opinion that membrane filtration of aqueous solutions is a thoroughly researched area with little scope for innovative technological achievements, there have been a spate of exciting changes in the relatively new nanofiltration market. Nanofiltration will encourage significant technical innovations, thereby increasing market share in the coming years. “Nanofiltration of aqueous solution is primarily affected by the increasing demand for water,” notes the analyst of this research. “Water scarcity necessitates greater focus on domestic water processing or desalination of brackish water.” Additionally, there is a high demand for industrially processable water, which promotes installation of systems for water recovery. Nanofiltration is also being increasingly deployed for the separation of organic solutions at moderate conditions and relatively low cost.

Nanofiltration technology’s affordability is a vital purchase factor in the current scenario, since water scarcity has led to a significant increase in the price of water. In the last five years, the cost of domestic water has risen by 27 percent in the United States and 45 percent in Australia. Although reverse osmosis is a popular method of water treatment and removes the smallest contaminants from water, the nanofiltration technique has lower operating costs and is an efficient method in some water treatment systems.

Organic separation with membranes did not appeal to end users due to the lack of durable and selective material for these systems. However, the current level of technology development makes up for those arrears in several industry sectors, giving end users alternatives to traditional techniques such as chromatography and thermal distillation. Nanofiltration developments are propelled by increasing demands for higher membrane efficiency and lifetime. The main issue faced by organic nanofiltration is a lack of solvent-resistant material that allows for reliable design and longer performances. The market competition is primarily concerned with such issues that drive the development of nanofiltration in new technological regions. While customers are looking for products that aid cost reduction and fit into their existing production lines, manufacturers have been dwelling on sorting out major membrane design issues,” explains the analyst. “One such challenging membrane design issue is the separation of amine solutions with amines.”

Nanofiltration is considered a smart solution that could replace expensive reverse osmosis in various applications such as desalination of water or removal of monovalent ions. However, even in the mature water-related sector, there sometimes is a problem of poor client reception for new technical solutions such as ceramic membranes. “Additional investment in R&D or installation of pilot lines confirming proof-of-concept designs would pave the way for better acceptance of innovative technical solutions by the organic as well as water-related sectors,” concludes the analyst.

Application Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following application sectors in this research:

• Water and wastewater treatment
• Processing of water
• A wide range of industries such as chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, paper, textile and food