Membrane industry: the limelight is strong and the prospects are unlimited

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese membrane industry has gradually matured after more than 50 years of development
.
The membrane industry has played an irreplaceable supporting role in solving water shortages, air and water environmental pollution, and developing new energy industries, especially through process industry reengineering, improving energy and resource utilization, and reducing environmental pollutant emissions

Since the "13th Five-Year Plan", China's membrane industry has actively responded to the complex and changeable domestic and international macroeconomic situation and development environment, closely focusing on the country's social and economic development needs, insisting on scientific and technological innovation, optimizing industrial structure, promoting industrial upgrading, and focusing on the development of membrane technology , Great progress has been made in all aspects, and the development of the industry has maintained rapid growth, laying a solid foundation for the realization of the membrane industry from large to strong
.

In the past five years, the average annual growth rate of the total output value of China's membrane industry has remained at about 15%.
In 2019, the total output value of the membrane industry has doubled from the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period.
China has become one of the world's largest countries in the membrane industry
.
At the same time, China has newly built more than 40 water treatment membrane production lines, and the membrane production capacity has increased by more than 60 million square meters, which is an increase of more than 30% from the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period

Looking back on the development of China's membrane industry, the commissioning of heterogeneous ion exchange membranes from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s marked the official start of China's membrane industry and laid the foundation for China to become a major producer of ion exchange membranes
.
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, cellulose acetate reverse osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration membranes, microfiltration membrane modules and gas separation membrane modules were put into production one after another, which fundamentally reversed the situation that such membranes were completely dependent on imports.

Since entering the 21st century, China's membrane industry has ushered in a period of rapid growth and has become a strategic emerging industry
.
According to the relevant person in charge of the China Membrane Industry Association, during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the membrane industry has continuously improved its innovation capabilities, the scale of the industry has grown, the application fields have become more extensive, and the industrial environment has continued to be optimized

Since the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the state has given planning guidance and key support to the development of the membrane industry in different periods, and membrane manufacturing has taken solid steps in technological innovation
.
The innovative achievements made during this period mainly include the use of relatively inexpensive polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials to prepare capillary membranes, the preparation of polyvinylidene fluoride capillary membranes by thermally induced phase separation, and the industrialization of permeable gasification membranes and flat MBR membranes

At the same time, due to the late start of China's membrane industry, relevant national and local standards were relatively few before
.
With the development of the industry, China's management level on the performance and quality of membrane products is also rapidly improving

To this end, the relevant person in charge of the China Membrane Industry Association stated that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China’s membrane technology innovation will focus on the major needs of the country’s economic and social development and focus on three aspects of research.
The first is to strengthen original innovation and focus on the development of high-performance membranes.
With membrane material research and development, major common key technology breakthroughs, and industrialization key technology application research, breakthroughs in a number of "stuck neck" technologies, development of a number of "short board" materials, seize the commanding heights of membrane technology, and achieve leapfrogging and leading, supporting China's membrane technology High-quality development of the industry
.
The second is to strengthen the research and development of common technologies such as the modularization, intelligence, mechatronics, and parts and components of membrane equipment, through the development and localization of key technologies such as equipment design and research, manufacturing process and process optimization.