Research and Markets, leading source for international market research and
market data, has announced the addition of Frost + Sullivan's new report "Nanofiltration
- An Overview of Technology Development Status and Trends" to their
offering.
This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Nanofiltration--An Overview
of Technology Development Status and Trends provides an overview of the developments
taking place within this industry, together with an analysis of the current
market and technological trends. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert
analysts thoroughly examine the following applications: water and wastewater
treatment, processing of water, and a wide range of industries such as chemical,
petrochemical, pharmaceutical, paper, textile and food.
This analysis is available through our Technical Insights program. With this
program, clients receive industry-leading market research along with comprehensive,
objective information that allows your company to mitigate risk, identify new
opportunities, and drive effective strategies for growth.
Technology Overview
Technological Developments in Membrane Materials Boost Innovation in the Nanofiltration
Market
Contrary to the popular opinion that membrane filtration of aqueous solutions
is a thoroughly researched area with little scope for innovative technological
achievements, there have been a spate of exciting changes in the relatively
new nanofiltration market. Nanofiltration will encourage significant technical
innovations, thereby increasing market share in the coming years. “Nanofiltration
of aqueous solution is primarily affected by the increasing demand for water,”
notes the analyst of this research. “Water scarcity necessitates greater
focus on domestic water processing or desalination of brackish water.”
Additionally, there is a high demand for industrially processable water, which
promotes installation of systems for water recovery. Nanofiltration is also
being increasingly deployed for the separation of organic solutions at moderate
conditions and relatively low cost.
Nanofiltration technology’s affordability is a vital purchase factor
in the current scenario, since water scarcity has led to a significant increase
in the price of water. In the last five years, the cost of domestic water has
risen by 27 percent in the United States and 45 percent in Australia. Although
reverse osmosis is a popular method of water treatment and removes the smallest
contaminants from water, the nanofiltration technique has lower operating costs
and is an efficient method in some water treatment systems.
Organic separation with membranes did not appeal to end users due to the lack
of durable and selective material for these systems. However, the current level
of technology development makes up for those arrears in several industry sectors,
giving end users alternatives to traditional techniques such as chromatography
and thermal distillation. Nanofiltration developments are propelled by increasing
demands for higher membrane efficiency and lifetime. The main issue faced by
organic nanofiltration is a lack of solvent-resistant material that allows for
reliable design and longer performances. The market competition is primarily
concerned with such issues that drive the development of nanofiltration in new
technological regions. While customers are looking for products that aid cost
reduction and fit into their existing production lines, manufacturers have been
dwelling on sorting out major membrane design issues,” explains the analyst.
“One such challenging membrane design issue is the separation of amine
solutions with amines.”
Nanofiltration is considered a smart solution that could replace expensive
reverse osmosis in various applications such as desalination of water or removal
of monovalent ions. However, even in the mature water-related sector, there
sometimes is a problem of poor client reception for new technical solutions
such as ceramic membranes. “Additional investment in R&D or installation
of pilot lines confirming proof-of-concept designs would pave the way for better
acceptance of innovative technical solutions by the organic as well as water-related
sectors,” concludes the analyst.
Application Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following application
sectors in this research:
- Water and wastewater treatment
- Processing of water
- A wide range of industries such as chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical,
paper, textile and food