{"id":6843,"date":"2025-10-05T15:20:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/membraflow.eu\/?post_type=glossary&#038;p=6843"},"modified":"2025-10-05T15:53:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:53:31","slug":"reverse-osmosis","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/membraflow.eu\/en\/lexikon\/umkehrosmose\/","title":{"rendered":"Reverse osmosis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Reverse osmosis (RO)<\/strong> is that <strong>finest pressure-driven diaphragm processes<\/strong> within the membrane filtration. It is used for <strong>Separation of almost all dissolved substances<\/strong>including salts, organic molecules, microorganisms and particles, from water or other liquids. The pores of the reverse osmosis membrane are so small that they <strong>No physically defined openings<\/strong> in the classical sense - their separating effect is based on <strong>Molecular and ion diffusion<\/strong> due to the dense polymer structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Functional principle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reverse osmosis uses the principle of <strong>Reversal of natural osmosis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In osmosis, solvent (e.g. water) diffuses through a semi-permeable membrane towards a higher concentration of dissolved substances until equilibrium is reached.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With the <strong>Reverse osmosis<\/strong> is created by creating a <strong>pressure, which is higher than the osmotic pressure<\/strong>This natural flow is reversed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result <strong>Pure water (permeate)<\/strong> through the membrane, while <strong>Dissolved salts, ions, organic substances and microorganisms<\/strong> are retained (retentate).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Typical operating pressures are between <strong>10 and 80 bar<\/strong>depending on the salt concentration of the solution to be treated (e.g. fresh water, brackish water or seawater).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Properties of reverse osmosis membranes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reverse osmosis membranes usually consist of <strong>thin composite systems (Thin Film Composite, TFC)<\/strong> on the basis of <strong>Polyamide<\/strong>.<br>Characteristic features are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Extremely high retention rates<\/strong> (&gt; 99 %) for salts, organic molecules and microorganisms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Very low water permeability<\/strong> - therefore requires high operating pressure<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sensitivity to chlorine and oxidizing chemicals<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High selectivity and reproducibility<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Areas of application<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reverse osmosis is used in many areas where <strong>High-purity or demineralized liquids<\/strong> are required:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Drinking water treatment and seawater desalination<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Production of ultrapure water<\/strong> for electronics, pharmaceuticals and laboratory applications<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Food industry<\/strong> (concentration of fruit juices, milk, wine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Waste water treatment and process water treatment<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Energy and chemical industry<\/strong> (boiler feed water, process desalination)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mb-25 wp-block-paragraph\">Reverse osmosis is a <strong>Highly efficient separation process<\/strong>which is almost <strong>pure water in a single step<\/strong> can deliver. It is regarded as <strong>Key technology<\/strong> in the modern water treatment and process industry. Due to their <strong>High retention rate<\/strong>, <strong>Compact design<\/strong> and <strong>Chemical-free working method<\/strong> it contributes decisively to <strong>Sustainability and resource efficiency<\/strong> industrial processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a class=\"btn btn-secondary\" href=\"https:\/\/membraflow.eu\/en\/membrane-technology-plant-engineering\/\">All about our solutions in the field of membrane technology &amp; plant engineering<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Die Umkehrosmose (RO) ist das feinste druckgetriebene Membranverfahren innerhalb der Membranfiltration. Sie dient zur Abtrennung nahezu aller gel&ouml;sten Stoffe, einschlie&szlig;lich Salze, organischer Molek&uuml;le, Mikroorganismen und Partikel, aus Wasser oder anderen Fl&uuml;ssigkeiten. Die Poren der Umkehrosmosemembran sind so klein, dass sie keine physisch definierten &Ouml;ffnungen im klassischen Sinn mehr darstellen &ndash; ihre Trennwirkung basiert auf Molek&uuml;l- [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6843","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Umkehrosmose - MEMBRAFLOW Anlagenbau f\u00fcr keramische Nanofiltration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/membraflow.eu\/en\/lexicon\/reverse-osmosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Umkehrosmose - MEMBRAFLOW Anlagenbau f\u00fcr keramische Nanofiltration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Die Umkehrosmose (RO) ist das feinste druckgetriebene Membranverfahren innerhalb der Membranfiltration. 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