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Membrane Technology

TOMAC is a manufacturer of flat-sheet polymeric membranes which consist of thin polymeric layer on the top of substrate fabric. Because the polymer layer has porous structures and size of the pores can be controlled, it acts selective barrier for molecules with different diameters (in both liquid and gas state). Polymeric membranes are classified into four categories based on their separation characteristics: microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) (TOMAC produces only support layer for RO membranes).

Applications

Polysulfone (PSU), polyether sulfone (PES), polyvinyldiene fluoride (PVDF) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) are the common polymers used in membrane production. Depending on their intrinsic properties such as chemical, mechanical, thermal stability, and interaction with feed solution such as fouling tendency, hydrophilicty/hydrophobicity they are selected based on their ability to address certain challenges during filtration.

Polymer	Characteristics	Applications
Polysulfone (PSU)	・High mechanical strength ・Thermal stability ・Chlorine and alkali resistance	Support for reverse osmosis membranes, waste water recovery, food and beverage processing (clarification, concentration etc.).
Polyethersulfone (PES)	・Thermal stability ・Biocompatibility	Protein concentration, enzyme recovery, treatment of low molecular weight contaminants.
Polyvinyldiene fluoride (PVDF)	・Chemical resistance ・Aging resistance ・Minimal pore size change upon drying	Oily waste water treatment, membrane bioreactor (MBR), waste water treatment, electrocoat (e-coat) paint recycling.
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)	・Chemical resistance ・Thermal stability	Support for gas separation membranes, oily waste water treatment, electrocoat (e-coat) paint recycling.

In addition to type of polymer used for membrane production, selection of nonwoven support fabric is crucial for achieving the highest efficiency. TOMAC offers two types of fabrics with different thicknesses and densities. The first one is polyester fabric which offers high mechanical strength, good heat resistance (suitable for high pressure applications, high temperature coating and/or treatment before end-use). Second type is polyolefin fabric which has great chemical stability at higher and lower pH levels and is ideal minimizing membrane cleaning time.

	Polyester	Polyolefin
Melting tempeature	260 °C (500°F)	132 °C (270°F)
pH Range	3-10	1-14
Cleaning and disinfection	Hydrogen peroxide 35%	Hydrogen peroxide 30%

TOMAC Products

TOMAC has been developing tailor-made membranes instead of one-fits-all approach. Below is the list of some products that TOMAC developed based on our customer`s needs.

Membrane Type	Application	Needs	Results
PAN	Treating oily waster water	Higher flux recovery, shorter clean-in-place (CIP) time, improved rejection	・Membranes with permenant hydrophilicity ・Improved antifouling ・Better process flux and rejection
PSU	Glucose clarification	Higher flux	・Over 40% increase in pure water flux and 16% increase in process flux tests
PVDF	Ecoat paint recycle	Improved rejection	・Better rejection without sacrificing process flux
PES	Whey protein concentration	Enhancement in anti-fouling	・Tuned hydrophilicity of the membrane ・Higher process flux

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Membrane Technology

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