Reverse osmosis (RO) has proved reliable and economically attractive in sea- and brackish water desalination and in the production of pure water. To a large extent this success has to be credited to the new polymer membranes which have been commercially introduced during the last 10 years. Although primarily developed for seawater desalination, their application in the treatment of industrial
... [Show full abstract] effluents is tempting because of their separation potential for many organic chemicals. With respect to industrial effluents, this quality is of central importance since such effluents often contain organics as solvents. Reverse osmosis is very suitable for the treatment of industrial effluents since:
Its modular design allows integration into the individual production process and, consequently, adaption to each individual separation problem;
The chemicals are separated without any thermal or chemical degradation, thus allowing recovery, at least in principle.
