Market opportunities are expanding due to improved technology and energy savings. Increased enforcement of waste cleanup legislation also provides an opportunity for the separations industry. The markets for electrically driven separations and rotating membranes account for most of this total. Such promising technologies as liquid membrane separation systems and electrokinetically driven membranes have very low commercial sales levels. Other technologies still in the research stage, such as electroacoustical dewatering, enhanced diffusion, exsorption, and foaming have no commercial backers.
Fuel cells represent the largest part of the electrically-driven sector.
Electrodialysis and electrokinetic membrane systems represent other important electrically driven separation products. The biggest users of rotating and moving membrane systems are the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Chromatography is increasingly being used as a separation technology. Magnetic separations are a relatively mature market because many of the systems and techniques have already been commercialized. Liquid membrane systems continue to draw a great deal of attention.