Membrane Processes in Waste Treatment for Chemical and Nuclear Industries: Recent Advances

Abstract

Membrane technologies have seen a significant growth and increase in application in the last two decades. Membrane systems are now available in several different forms and sizes, each uniquely fitting a particular need and application. With the growing confidence to tailor–make membranes with desired characteristics, the applications can be extended to the separation / decontamination of a number of aqueous streams in chemical engineering or in the nuclear fuel cycle. The chemical and engineering communities are already paying significant attention to the quest for technologies that would lead us to the goal of technological sustainability. Amongst the various separation techniques, membrane based separation methods are getting increasingly popular due to factors such as high efficiency, and low in power consumption and easy scale–up due to a compact design etc. Also, in a modern approach, membrane contactors have proved to be an efficient contacting device, due to their high area per unit volume that results in high mass transfer rates. They are not only compact but also eliminate several of the problems faced in conventional processes such as ion exchange, solvent extraction, and precipitation.