Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGBFor the filtration of water a variety of different types of membranes ranging from micro- to nanofiltration are already commercially available. Goals of our research are to improve the properties of membranes by a modification of the surface or by embedding additional functions, like adsorption sites into the membranes. In the first case the (bio-) fouling behavior could be controlled and this allows for an e.g. improved back flushing behavior of the membranes. The second case leads to so-called membrane adsorbers where filtration and adsorption are directly integrated into one system. In contrast to pure adsorbers the adsorption capacity of membrane adsorbers are independent from flow velocities and therefore allows for a high troughput. Meanwhile we have systems with different functionalities at hand for the selective adsorption of micropollutants, heavy metals or the recovery of valuable metals.
Water treatment
Our research
Membrane adsorber
Combined filtration and adsoption for downstream processing in biotechnology and for water treatment.
Rotating disk filter
A rotating disk filter, which efficiently controls the thickness of the particle layer. Hereby, the filter opens up new applications for filtration such as industrial and municipal wastewater treatment with very high solid contents.
Ceramic hollow fiber membranes
Ceramic capillaries are used for liquid filtration in the food, chemical or pharmaceutical industry. For these applications Fraunhofer IGB develops ceramic hollow fibers with high packing densities.