DEVELOPMENT OF CROSS-LINKED FULLY AROMATIC POLYAMIDE ULTRA-THIN COMPOSITE MEMBRANES FOR SEAWATER DESALINATION

A crosslinked fully aromatic polyamide ultra-thin composite membrane, designated UTC-80, has been developed for seawater desalination. The excellent membrane performance was derived from the combination of both design of membrane materials and membrane fabrication technology. SU-820 spiral wound membrane element using UTC-80 membrane has high salt rejection (99.75 %) and high water productivity (16 m3/d) at 56 kg/cm2 for live seawater fed at 25-degrees-C. We found that the trihalomethane rejection of the UTC-80 membrane was much higher even in the case of the seawater desalination compared to cellulose acetate membrane. The affinity of trihalomethane with membrane materials is presumed to cause the difference of trihalomethane rejection.