Tools of The Trade – Filters

The tools that are used in industry are quite diverse and in most cases, we don’t even consider those tools that may be used on the products that we purchase. That doesn’t mean, however, that they are not important and in many cases, they may play a role that not only helps to make the product more usable, it may make it safer for us. That is especially the case when you are talking about any type of filtration, something that is necessary for many industries to provide high quality products that we expect. Of course, there is not typically a need for us to understand the difference between a spiral wound membrane and those that use an anode cell but understanding the basic purposes of those membranes can help to improve our appreciation for the products we use.

The basic use of filtration is to separate products in some way or another. In most cases, we could think of it as a pure product being allowed to pass through the membrane but the impure product remaining in the membrane. That is not always the case, however, and some of the more sophisticated type of filtering can provide something known as protein fractionation. That type of filtering actually breaks down the proteins into various fractions which are smaller components of the larger protein. This type of filtering is commonly used in science but it is also used in technology as a distillation process. It is also used for culinary purposes, especially when separating oils such as palm kernel oil and coconut oil. That allows the oil to be produced in different viscosities so that they are available for their various purposes. (Source: Synder Filtration and the Spiral Wound Membrane)