Comparison of Characteristics for Nanofiltration/Ultrafiltration/Reverse Osmosis Systems!

Comparison of Characteristics for Nanofiltration/Ultrafiltration/Reverse Osmosis Systems!

I. System Feature Comparison

1. Ultrafiltration (UF): With a filtration precision of 0.001-0.1 microns, this pressure-driven membrane separation technology removes harmful substances like rust, silt, suspended solids, colloids, bacteria, and large organic molecules from water while retaining beneficial mineral elements. It serves as the core component in mineral water and spring water production processes. Ultrafiltration achieves water recovery rates exceeding 95%, facilitates easy flushing and backwashing, resists clogging, and offers relatively long service life. It requires no external power or pressure, relying solely on municipal water pressure for filtration. With high flow rates and low operating costs, it handles a broad range of contaminants. However, it cannot eliminate certain impurities or pathogens, though it effectively removes water pollutants.

2. Nanofiltration (NF): Operating at a filtration precision between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, NF achieves lower salt rejection than RO. It is another membrane separation technology requiring electricity and pressure, with a lower water recovery rate. This means approximately 30% of the tap water is inevitably lost during NF membrane water production. NF is typically used for industrial pure water manufacturing.

3. Reverse Osmosis (RO): With a filtration precision of approximately 0.0001 microns, this ultra-high precision membrane separation technology developed in the early 1960s in the United States utilizes pressure differentials. It can filter out nearly all impurities in water (including both harmful and beneficial ones), allowing only water molecules to pass through. This means that during water production using reverse osmosis membranes, nearly 50% or more of the tap water is inevitably lost. Reverse osmosis technology requires pressurization and electricity, has low flow rates, and low water utilization. However, it effectively removes various impurities and ultrafine pathogens. Therefore, reverse osmosis will become the primary method for purifying future drinking water, often combined with other filtration materials (such as mineral cartridges). It is commonly used for producing household purified water, industrial ultrapure water, and pharmaceutical-grade ultrapure water.

II. Process Overview

Raw Water Tank → Pressure Pump → Multi-Media Filter → Activated Carbon Filter → Water Softening System → Chemical Dosage System → Precision Filter → First-Stage Reverse Osmosis → pH Adjustment → Intermediate Water Tank → Intermediate Water Tank → Second-Stage Reverse Osmosis → Purified Water Tank → Pure Water Pump → UV Sterilizer → Microporous Filter → Pasteurization → Point of Use

III. Application Industries

1. Mineral Water: In mineral water production, ultrafiltration technology is applied. Engineering designs will specifically select membrane pore size and type based on the source water quality analysis report for the mineral water, tailoring the ultrafiltration design accordingly.

2. Food: Ultrafiltration is increasingly adopted in producing dairy products, juices, alcoholic beverages, condiments, etc. Applications include separating proteins and low-molecular-weight lactose from milk or whey, clarifying and sterilizing fruit juices, removing colored proteins, polysaccharides, and other colloidal impurities from wine, and eliminating bacteria from soy sauce and vinegar. Compared to traditional methods, it offers economic efficiency, reliability, and quality assurance.

3. Pharmaceuticals: In pharmaceutical and bioprocessing production, heat-sensitive substances often require separation and purification, where ultrafiltration demonstrates distinct advantages. Ultrafiltration is highly suitable for separating and concentrating bioactive substances (e.g., enzymes, viruses, nucleic acids, specialized proteins). For pharmaceuticals extracted from plants or animals (e.g., alkaloids, hormones), whose extracts often contain macromolecules or solids, ultrafiltration can frequently be employed for separation, thereby enhancing product quality.

4. Pure Water & Ultrapure Water: Primary purification of industrial water, RO pretreatment for pure/ultrapure water production, and terminal treatment for pure/ultrapure water.

5. Environmental Protection: Advanced treatment of industrial wastewater, municipal water reuse systems, recovery of electrophoretic paints and oils.

6. Fermentation: Separation and purification of biochemical fermentation broths, enzyme concentration and purification, clarification filtration of sugars and xylitol. IV. Product Features

1. Ultrafiltration membrane elements utilize products from world-renowned membrane manufacturers, ensuring customers receive the highest-quality organic membrane elements currently available globally, thereby guaranteeing retention performance and membrane flux.

2. High system recovery rate with superior product quality, enabling efficient separation, purification, and high-fold concentration of materials.

3. No phase change during processing, causing no adverse effects on material constituents. The separation, purification, and concentration processes occur at ambient temperature, making it particularly suitable for heat-sensitive substances. This completely avoids the drawback of high-temperature degradation of bioactive substances, effectively preserving biological activity and nutritional components in the original material system.

4. Low energy consumption and short production cycles. Compared to traditional equipment, it offers lower operating costs, effectively reducing production expenses and enhancing corporate profitability.

5. Advanced process design with high integration, compact structure, minimal footprint, and simplified operation/maintenance, reducing labor intensity.

6. Constructed with sanitary-grade piping and valves, the system ensures on-site cleanliness and compliance with GMP or FDA production standards.

7. The control system can be customized to specific user requirements. Integrated with advanced control software, it enables centralized online monitoring of critical process parameters, preventing manual errors and ensuring long-term stable operation through multi-faceted safeguards.