Economical evaluation of the membrane technology.

In recent years membranes and membrane processes have become industrial products of substantial technical and commercial importance. The worldwide sales of synthetic membranes in 1988 will be in excess of 1.2 x 10 high 9 US Dollar, with an annual increase of 12 to 14%. In spite of already impressive sales figures and growth rates the use of membranes in industrial scale separation processes is not without problems and market forecasts are difficult because of the multitude of different products, processes, and applications, and because of the rapid development of new products opening up new applications. In this paper the present market for synthetic membranes has been analyzed in terms of its regional distribution and industrial areas of application. Various market segments such as the water and wastewater industry, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, as well as the food industry, biotechnology and the environmental protection industry have been identified. Problems effecting th e future industrial scale, utilization of membranes and membrane processes are discussed. Various membrane-related research projects carried out in industry and government-supported insitutions are analyzed in terms of their impact on the development of the membrane industry. Several research and development areas have been identified as being of prime importance for the future growth of the membrane-based industry.