Monthly Archives: July 2022

Marine plastic debris is one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. Plastics are found in all corners of the world’s ocean, from the surface down to the seabed, and pollutes even the most remote beaches all across the world. Because plastic is so durable, it doesn’t simply break down in the environment, but rather slowly disintegrates into tiny bits of plastic which float on the surface or are suspended in the water column before finally sinking to the seafloor where they accumulate over time.

These plastic particles, known as microplastics, are often ingested by marine animals and seabirds who mistake them for food. As higher predators inadvertently ingest microplastics found inside all the prey they eat, this can quickly accumulate. Since the plastic is not easily digested, the digestive system can become clogged up with microplastic. This causes the animal to feel full, and so it stops feeding and slowly starves to death.

Organic Solvent Nanofiltration (OSN) or Organophilic Nanofiltration (oNF) offers an attractive solution for challenging separations in the molecular range between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, focusing on the treatment of organic liquids across several industries. Sterlitech is pleased to announce the addition of  industrially proven, BORSIG OSN flat sheet membranes to its product offerings. Available in A4 size (210 x 297 mm) sheets, and easily cut down to other shapes or sizes, they can be used with any of our flat sheet membrane test cells.

Applications include, but are not limited to:

• Homogeneous catalyst recovery from reaction mixtures

Membranes don’t always perform as expected, but asking the right questions can reduce down time due to troubleshooting. Below are a few common filtration performance challenges and troubleshooting tips. 

Observation 1: No Flow 

If you are pulling vacuum or applying pressure to the membrane, and not seeing any permeation the issue may be that you are using the separator paper (often blue in color) instead of the membrane. Check the color of the filter (most are white or translucent) to verify if the issue is attributed to the using the non-porous separator paper. This mix up is more common than you might think!

Observation 2: Low Flow Rate

Most published flow rates for membranes are based on water. If your flow rate is much lower than the published rate,

Effective late 2021, the TriSep ACM5 RO Membrane has been discontinued. Inventory of the item has been depleted.

TriSepACM5 Specifications: