The Development History of RO Membranes
It is the magical RO membrane that builds a safety barrier for your drinking water; changes the situation of "having the sea but lacking water"; and that enables wastewater to be recycled, assisting in cost reduction and efficiency increase of enterprises, and also protecting the blue planet. Today, let's unveil the development history of RO membranes.
Birth Story of RO Membranes
In 1950, Dr. S. Sourirajan, an American scientist, inadvertently discovered that seagulls always sip a large mouthful of seawater from the sea surface and then spit out a small portion after a few seconds. He was puzzled by this abnormal phenomenon. Logically, it is unable to directly drink high-salinity seawater, but why can seagulls drink seawater?
Therefore, Sourirajan brought the seagull back to the laboratory. Upon study, he found that there was a very precise membrane at the position of the seagull's crop, through whichmost of the impurities in the seawater could be filtered out, leaving only freshwater molecules for drinking.
This membrane structure is the prototype of the RO membrane.
Operating Principle of RO Membranes
What is RO?
Under a natural state, a dilute solution will spontaneously flow through a semipermeable membrane to a concentrated solution. RO is used to overcome the natural osmotic pressure and reverse the natural flow direction of water molecules by applying sufficient operating pressure on the concentrated solution side, allowing part of water molecules in the concentrated solution to pass through the membrane and become purified produced water on the dilute solution side.
How does the RO membrane operate?
The pore size of the RO membrane is as small as the nanometer level, one-millionth of the hair (0.0001 microns), with extremely high filtration precision. By applying pressure, water molecules in the raw water pass through the RO membrane, while inorganic salts, heavy metal ions, organic matters, colloids, bacteria, viruses, and other dissolved salts and organic matters with a molecular weight greater than 100 in the raw water are blocked, effectively separating pure water from concentrated water.
Development History of RO Membranes in China
From the 1960s to the 1980s, CTA RO membranes were independently developed and domestically produced in China.
The breakthrough in key RO technologies has been made in the 1960s and 1970s. China also accumulated rich application experience and preliminary technical achievements through technology introduction and independent research and development.
In 1966, a nationwide seawater desalination campaign was launched, marking the start of a research on RO membranes.
From 1975 to 1982, the domestically produced CTA hollow fiber RO membrane was successfully developed.
From the 1980s to the 1990s, PA RO membranes were maturely applied in China.
By 1984, China had developed a batch of asymmetric RO membranes with certain performance and practical value.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, foreign RO membrane products entered China's industrial fields including seawater desalination, power, petrochemical, and coal chemical. RO membranes took the stage of large-scale industrial application of membrane water treatment in China, and were applied rapidly.
In 1997, China's first 500m³/d RO seawater desalination device was put into operation in Shengshan County, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, pioneering the history of large-scale application of seawater desalination in China.
In the 2000s to 2020s, PA RO membranes were domestically produced, and the domestic RO membrane market developed rapidly.
Around the year 2000, South Huiton, Hangzhou Water Treatment Technology Development Center, and Factory 8271 began to introduce high-performance production technology of polyamide composite RO membrane from abroad according to development needs in their respective fields. China became the world's fourth country to master independent RO membrane technology. "Huiton Membrane" gradually became the most popular with domestic RO membranes as the most market-oriented brand.
In 2021, South Huiton Co., Ltd., renamed VONTRON Technology Co., Ltd., was awarded the title of leading enterprise in the field of RO membranes in China's membrane industry. Subsequently, it absorbed and merged Times Wharton Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, and globally renowned roll membrane manufacturer.
Today, RO membranes continues to be extended in the field of industrial water treatment and also plays an important role in domestic water. In the future, Chinese RO membrane enterprises, led by VONTRON, will also make unremitting efforts to benefit the world.
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