Membrane Systems

Membrane systems became the state-of-the-art technology for various applications in the surface treatment and metal finishing industries today or in any application where an oil water separator is required. Basically a pressure differential on a semi-permeable membrane is employed to remove solids and dissolved substances with a specific molecular weight from the contaminated liquid.

Kurion utilizes the advantages of different membrane materials and available pore sizes to achieve a maximum of process performance and reliability.

Our membrane systems utilise cross flow filtration in which the flow of contaminated liquid is parallel to the membrane surface. This allows the clean water phase (permeate) to pass through the membrane while minimizing fouling of the membrane surface (fig. 1).

The result is a long lasting filtration surface that is cleanable and can be reused many times.

Typical applications for our systems:

Oil water segregation of oil emulsions and cooling lubricants
Oil water separator
Recycling of degreasing bath/cleaners
Wastewater from repair and maintenance shops
Grinding waste water
Recycling of rinse water
Process water purification
Recycling of e-coat bath

Our membranes systems use two main types of membranes, Ultrafiltration Membranes and Microfiltration Membranes. Kurion's ceramic membrane filter elements are made of pure α-Al₂O₃, the chemical stable variant of alumina and the membranes consist of Al₂O_3,ZrO₂ or TiO_2, depending on pore size.

The ceramic membrane filter elements can be produced with a wide range of pore sizes covering the whole range of micro- and ultra filtration.

The tube shaped mono- and multi channel filter elements are suitable for applications under abrasive and chemical aggressive conditions. Kurion filter elements have an outstanding filtration efficiency at high flux values, e.g. for oil water separator applications.