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In terms of filtration and separation technology, membranes have become one of the most important components. It is almost impossible to separate membrane media from the processes and equipment in which membranes are used, so this is
only the briefest of introductions to membranes, with more detailed coverage in Sections 3 and 4.

In separation terms, membranes were developed as thin, flexible semi-permeable sheets of regenerated cellulose material, intended to separate species at the molecular and ionic level, their first main application being in the purification of salt and
brackish waters by reverse osmosis – which is not a filtration process, but one relying on different rates of diffusion for water and ions through the membrane material under high transmembrane pressure.

The word ‘ membrane ’ has stuck to a range of separation media that has expanded enormously from this early form, to embrace solid inflexible inorganic materials, especially ceramics, and an ever-increasing group of polymeric materials, and to applications that now extend through ultrafiltration into the microfiltration range. The existence of the membrane as a very effective filtration medium led to the development of the whole field of cross-flow filtration, which also now extends well
beyond its reverse osmosis origins.

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