The market for cartridges to separate contaminants from liquids will exceed $15.5 billion in 2014.   Those with membrane filtration media will comprise 30 percent of the total. This is the conclusion reached by the McIlvaine Company in Cartridge Filters: World Market.  (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Cartridges are defined as full flow filters.  All the liquid to be purified passes through the cartridge.  These devices are further defined as non-cleaning. The McIlvaine RO/UF/MF report covers the cross-flow filters. The McIlvaine report, Liquid Filtration and Media World Market, covers automatic backwash filters.

Membrane cartridges have higher removal efficiency than the other types. The pore size can be adjusted to capture sub-micron particles.  However, the pressure loss and/or surface area is directly disproportional to the particle diameter to be captured.

Membrane cartridges are extensively used in the semiconductor industry to purify the chip wash water.  However, they are preceded by a cross-flow system which does the major purification. The cartridges are located at the end of the distribution piping to capture any particles which might have been generated in-transit.

Membrane cartridges provide the water-for-injection (used in drugs which are injected into humans) in the pharmaceutical industry.  They are also used to separate products in biotechnology applications.

The chemical industry uses membrane cartridges to purify process water and process chemical solutions.  There are large applications in healthcare as well as in residential and commercial applications.

The power industry uses cartridges in conjunction with the purification of water used to generate steam.

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Sales of cross-flow membrane equipment and replacement modules will exceed $10.4 billion in 2014. The reverse osmosis (RO) segment will comprise more than 50 percent of the total.  This is the latest finding in the continually updated RO, UF, MF World Market published by the McIlvaine Company www.mcilvainecompany.com.

Cross-flow membrane filtration differs from full low filters in that only a portion of the liquid is filtered. The remainder continues across the membrane and is discharged or recycled.  The advantage of the cross-flow technique is its ability to resist plugging. The disadvantage is the loss of product.  In the case of desalination, the loss is not significant. However, for juices or pharmaceutical products there is a need to recycle the lost liquid.

There are four efficiency levels depending on the pore size in the membranes.  Reverse osmosis is the most efficient.  Nanofiltration is next. In the McIlvaine analysis, nanofilration revenues are included with ultrafiltration which is the next most efficient. Microfiltration is least efficient, but still compares well with granular media filters and other non-membrane alternatives.

There is presently a $1.3 billion market for replacement RO membranes. Most of the market is in desalination of seawater. However the electronics, pharmaceutical and chemical industry are also major purchasers. 

Ultrafiltration is utilized as pre-filtration for RO systems but also by itself for many applications. The food industry is using higher temperature resistant ultrafilters on processes where cooking and similar processes are involved.

Microfiltration is also used for pre-filtration with RO systems.  Another major use is in municipal drinking water plants. It has proven more efficient than the granular media filters which have been traditionally used.

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