Microfiltration future

Waste Minimization and Disposal. CFF systems minimize disposal costs (e.g., when ceramic filters are used) whereas in diatomaceous (DE) pre-coat filtration substantial waste disposal costs may be incurred, particularly if the DE is contaminated with toxic organics. Currently, in many applications, DE is disposed of in landfills. In future, however, this option may become less available forcing the industry to use cross-flow microfiltration technology or adopt other waste minimization measures. 

The preparation of novel solid materials is a huge field for applications such as microfiltration, separation membranes or their supports, microstructured polymer blends, and porous microcarriers for the culture of living cells and enzymes. The considerable progress accomplished over the last four years makes it possible to envision many future developments. Some attempts for specific applications have already been made as shown below. 

Tremendous opportunity exists for hybrid processes consisting solely of membrane processes or a combination of membrane and non-membrane processes. Of the large number of potential combinations, studies of several are reported in the literature including nanofiltration with reverse osmosis [99] nanofiltration with electrodialysis [100] ultrafiltration with nanofiltration and reverse osmosis [101] ultrafiltration with membrane distillation [102] nanofiltration with reverse osmosis and a microfiltration membrane-based sorbent [103] microfiltration with flotation [104] microfiltration and ultrafiltration with ozone and activated carbon adsorption [105] and membrane processes with photocatalysis [106-107]. Despite the activity in this area, a comprehensive approach to designing hybrid systems does not exist future work would benefit from the development of such a design framework. 

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