Arkema and Polymen combine for new UF membrane

Chemical company Arkema and French membrane manufacturer Polymem have jointly developed a new ultrafiltration (UF) hydrophilic membrane technology to produce high quality water.

The UF membranes are manufactured by Polymem using a brand new nanostructured Kynar® PVDF polymer developed by Arkema, which the companies claim makes membrane water treatment more effective and less energy-intensive.

The aim of the partnership is both to speed up the commercial development of this UF membrane technology and to make it accessible to other water treatment players without delay.

The manufacturers say that the UF hollow-fiber membrane technology delivers the following benefits compared with conventional systems:

· Much finer filtration (from suspended matter to bacteria etc, to viruses)
· Highly stable quality of post-filtration water regardless of the quality of pre-filtration water
· Faster flowing filtered water for constant energy consumption due to membranes with excellent and long-lasting hydrophilic properties
· The possibility of fully automated filtration systems.