Membrane technologies are increasingly important in separation technology as they overcome many of the limitations associated with traditional processes. The application of these membrane processes is spreading widely in many areas of industrial activity, especially in dairy, food and beverage, chemical manufacturing, and wastewater treatment, allowing the recovery and reuse of already wasted materials.
This initiative allows these industries to become more environmentally friendly by reducing the amount of waste they produce, and to make more profit by recovering and reusing valuable ingredients. The main key to this revolution is the correct selection and use of these commercially produced and applied membranes. The initial selection of membranes for any application is usually based on "molecular weight cutoff" or "MWCO". According to the French standard NF X 45-103, the MWCO of a membrane is defined as the minimum molecular weight at which the membrane retains 90% of the solute.