Artificial intelligence sheds light on membrane performance

Membrane separations have long been recognized as energy-efficient processes with a rapidly growing market. In particular, organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) technology has shown considerable potential when applied to various industries, such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and natural products. The energy consumed by these industries accounts for 10 to 15 percent of the world's entire energy consumption. Nevertheless, difficulties in predicting the separation performance of OSN membranes have hindered smooth transition from lab discovery to industry implementation. Predicting the performance of membranes is a challenging task because of the complex nature of solvent, solute and membrane interactions.