ENV · Membrane & filtration
Membrane and filtration technologies
Ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, ceramic and silicon carbide membranes in hollow fibre, tubular and flat sheet configurations — plus membrane bioreactors, selected against your foulants rather than a catalogue.
The starting point
What problem does it solve?
- “Our membranes foul faster than the supplier said they would”
- “Cleaning chemicals and downtime are eating the budget”
- “We have no room to build a bigger clarifier”
- “Our effluent quality swings with the production schedule”
- “The membrane plant we bought can't handle our solids”
Your solution can be the right membrane, not more membrane.
Most membrane disappointments are selection failures rather than membrane failures. A polymeric hollow fibre module in a stream carrying oil and grease will foul. A flat sheet configuration in a high-solids duty will blind. A membrane chosen on price per square metre will be cleaned more often than one chosen on the chemistry of what it has to reject.
Glorinda works across a wide range of membranes precisely so that the selection can be made on the data. Ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, ceramic membranes and silicon carbide membranes; hollow fibre, tubular and flat sheet configurations; and membrane bioreactors where biology and separation need to happen in the same footprint.
In the silicon carbide segment, Glorinda partners with Cembrane, the world's leading producer of SiC membranes for water and wastewater treatment.
Why it pays
Benefits
Selection driven by foulants
Oil and grease, high solids, abrasive particles, high temperature, extreme pH and aggressive cleaning chemistry all point to different membrane materials. We start from what is in the water.
Ceramic and SiC for the hard duties
Where polymeric membranes degrade — high temperature, extreme pH, oxidative cleaning, abrasive solids — ceramic and silicon carbide membranes hold. Partner: Cembrane.
Configuration matched to solids
Hollow fibre for clean feeds and high packing density; tubular where solids and viscosity are high and cross-flow velocity matters; flat sheet where access and modularity dominate.
MBR where footprint is the constraint
Membrane bioreactors decouple biomass retention from settling, so a plant can carry more biomass in the same tank and produce a consistently high-quality effluent — the usual answer for a municipal works with nowhere to expand.
Pre-treatment designed with the membrane
The most reliable membrane plants are the ones where pre-treatment was designed as part of the membrane specification rather than bolted on when fouling appeared.
A stage, not an island
Membranes sit inside MLD, ZLD pre-treatment, desalination and post-treatment trains. We design them in context so the recovery target and the cleaning regime are compatible.
Process
How it works
Membrane separation works on size exclusion and, for tighter membranes, on charge and diffusion. The engineering decisions are which cut-off you need, which material survives the feed and the cleaning regime, and which configuration handles the solids loading at the cross-flow velocity you can afford to pump.
Below are the technologies we work with and what each is genuinely good at.
Process diagram
Screening → UF/ceramic/SiC → NF or RO → polishing
Reserved for a static diagram showing membrane cut-off ranges against particle and molecular size, with the Glorinda technology set mapped onto each band.
Static process diagram — final artwork to be supplied.
Ultrafiltration (UF)
Removes suspended solids, colloids, bacteria and macromolecules. The standard pre-treatment ahead of reverse osmosis and the separation stage inside a membrane bioreactor. Available in hollow fibre, tubular and flat sheet formats, and in low-energy tubular form as the separation element of our AnaeroMBR system.
Nanofiltration (NF)
Sits between UF and RO. Rejects divalent ions, hardness, colour and larger organics while passing much of the monovalent salt load. Frequently the right answer for colour removal and for selective softening where full desalination is not required.
Ceramic membranes
Inorganic, mechanically robust and chemically tolerant. They handle high temperature, extreme pH, oxidative cleaning and abrasive solids that would destroy a polymeric module, and they tolerate aggressive clean-in-place regimes that restore flux rather than gradually reducing it.
Silicon carbide (SiC) membranes
Highly hydrophilic, which resists organic and oil fouling; chemically inert across the full pH range; and thermally stable. In this segment Glorinda partners with Cembrane, the world's leading producer of SiC membranes for water and wastewater treatment, ensuring state-of-the-art solutions for our clients.
Membrane bioreactors (MBR)
Biological treatment with membrane separation replacing the secondary clarifier. Biomass is retained by the membrane rather than by settling, which allows higher mixed liquor concentrations, a smaller footprint and an effluent quality that does not degrade when the sludge settles badly. Where the load is high in organics and the objective is energy recovery, the anaerobic variant is usually better — see AnaeroMBR.
Applications
Where it is used
Membranes appear somewhere in nearly every water project we deliver. These are the duties where the selection matters most.
Industries
- Municipal wastewater — MBR upgrades where there is no room to expand
- Food and beverage — process water, CIP effluent and dairy streams
- Pulp and paper — white water recovery and fibre separation
- Textile — colour removal and reuse of dye-house effluent
- Oil and gas — produced water and oily wastewater
- Pharmaceutical — purified water pre-treatment and effluent
- Electronics — ultrapure water production trains
- Mining and steel — process water recycling and tailings water
- Power — pre-treatment ahead of demineralisation
Typical applications
- Pre-treatment ahead of reverse osmosis in MLD and ZLD trains
- Secondary clarifier replacement in a capacity-constrained works
- Oil and grease separation where polymeric membranes foul
- Colour and hardness removal by nanofiltration
- Fibre recovery from paper machine effluent
- White water recovery loops
- High-temperature or extreme-pH streams requiring ceramic or SiC
- Solids-laden feeds requiring tubular configuration
Equipment
Related products
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TOC, oil-in-water, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and CEMS packages with sampling systems and shelters.
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Vacuum and compression duties across wastewater, chemical, paper and power applications, including explosion-protected models.
Read moreSteam turbines
50 kW to 180 MW plus energy recovery sets that convert surplus steam pressure into power.
Read moreEngineering services
Engineering support for this technology
Selecting a process is an engineering decision, not a purchasing one. We run feasibility and pre-feasibility studies, characterise the stream, compare the routes on capital and operating cost, and act as owner's engineer while somebody else builds it if that suits you better.
Evidence
Projects
Sample layout. Reference projects are being cleared for publication with the clients concerned. The structure below is final; the content is placeholder.
SampleWater reuse retrofit — sample card
Card layout for a completed water reuse project: stream data before and after, recovery achieved, scope Glorinda held, and the client's own words.
SampleZLD package — sample card
Card layout for a zero liquid discharge package: feed characterisation, evaporator type selected, solid output route, and commissioning duration.
SampleOwner's engineer mandate — sample card
Card layout for an advisory mandate: the client's decision, the options assessed, and what changed in the tender as a result.
FAQ
Questions engineers ask
Taken from the questions procurement teams, plant managers and consultants actually send us.
Which membrane should I use?
It depends on the foulants, not the flow. Oil and grease, abrasive solids, high temperature, extreme pH and oxidative cleaning all push towards ceramic or silicon carbide. Clean feeds with high flow favour polymeric hollow fibre. High solids and viscosity favour tubular. Send us an analysis and we will tell you which and why.
Why silicon carbide?
SiC membranes are strongly hydrophilic, which resists organic and oil fouling; chemically inert across the pH range; and thermally stable. They cost more per square metre and often less per cubic metre treated over the life of the plant. Glorinda partners with Cembrane, the world's leading producer of SiC membranes for water and wastewater treatment.
Is an MBR worth it for a municipal plant?
Where the constraint is footprint or effluent consistency, usually yes. MBR retains biomass on the membrane rather than by settling, so the plant carries more biomass in the same tank and the effluent quality does not collapse when the sludge settles badly. Where the constraint is energy cost on a high-organic load, look at anaerobic treatment instead.
How do you stop the fouling problem we already have?
By finding out what is actually fouling. Autopsy of a failed module, a proper feed analysis and a review of the cleaning regime normally identify it within days. The fix is often pre-treatment or a change of cleaning chemistry rather than new membranes.
Can you supply just the membrane skid?
Yes, and we can also supply it as part of a wider treatment package. We ask to see the whole line either way — a membrane stage designed without visibility of what feeds it is where performance guarantees go wrong.
Conversion
Take this further
Send us the stream data, the discharge limit or the equipment list you are working from. An engineer reads every enquiry and replies with the questions that actually decide the solution — not a brochure.