ABSTRACT
Membrane filters are capable of retaining microorganisms and particles by mechanisms other than a simple sieving action. The fundamental mechanisms of filtration may be considered as sieving modified by adsorption and blocking arising from the large ratio of pore length to pore diameter. Reverse osmosis (RO) is an advanced unit operation in water treatment. RO has proven its commercial feasibility in the treatment of medium to high total dissolved solids waters, including brackish waters and many installations are successfully operating. A semipermeable membrane is either inserted into or coated onto the inside surface of a porous tube, which is designed to withstand the operating pressure. Product permeates through the membrane and porous tube and is collected on the outside. A hollow fine fiber reverse osmosis device is a compact bundle of thousands of longitudinally aligned hollow fine fiber membranes surrounding a feedwater distribution core.
