Advanced Membrane
GE is one of the world's largest manufacturers of integrated membrane-based water and fluid treatment systems and is a global leader in the use of Advanced Membrane filtration for waste prevention.
Environmental Benefit
The use of GE’s Advanced Membrane technology by our major global customers has provided the capacity to reduce the disposal of industrial wastewater by more than 21 billion gallons per year, reducing the burden on treatment plants and the demand on water supply.
Operating Benefit
GE’s Advanced Membrane technology is used in a wide range of applications, including purifying water for soft drinks, water reuse and removing heavy metals from wastewater. For example, GE’s Advanced Membrane technology is used by airlines to recycle de-icing fluid into new antifreeze, reducing glycol waste. If GE’s Advanced Membrane technology were used at all U.S. airports to recycle de-icing fluid, these airports could reduce disposal of nearly 10 million gallons of antifreeze per year.
The environmental challenge
Using the cheese industry as an example, the discharging of dairy whey as waste can be difficult to dispose of due to its high biological oxygen demand (BOD).
The market for Advanced Membrane technology is also driven by industries' desire to minimize waste, reuse water and conserve energy. In the olive processing industry, for example, ninofiltration systems are used in conjunction with a flash evaporator which enables olive processors to reduce the volume of their wastewater stream.
GE’s innovative solution
In contrast to traditional treatment technologies such as distillation, extraction, evaporation and ion exchange, Advanced Membrane technology can be substantially more energy efficient and requires a smaller physical footprint.
Environmental impact
Using the cheese industry as an example, GE’s Advanced Membrane technology installed around the world is used to transform dairy whey, previously discarded, into a valuable protein powder. This enables farmers to conserve more water a day while creating a marketable food ingredient.
Cutting costs
The use of GE’s Advanced Membrane technology allows customers to reduce the disposal of industry wastewater, and in some cases, recover valuable materials in treatment processes. Using the cheese industry as an example, GE Advanced Membrane technology cuts the high costs associated with the disposal of liquid whey, because of its high BOD content. Ultrafiltration is then used to purify and concentrate the liquid whey for protein powder which is widely used as a food and feed additive.
