While membrane-based separations of liquids from solids have enjoyed increasing popularity over the last 20 years, the technology has an inherent Achilles heel that affects all membrane devices: fouling. This long-term loss in throughput capacity is due primarily to the formation of a boundary layer that builds up naturally on the membranes surface during the filtration process.
In addition to cutting down on the flux performance of the membrane, this boundary or gel layer acts as a secondary membrane reducing the native design selectivity of the membrane in use.
