Toray® TBW-XHR Series: Enabling Ultrapure Water Production Through Advanced RO Membrane Technology
Reichwelt is pleased to highlight Toray Industries, Inc.’s development of the TBW-XHR Series reverse osmosis (RO) membrane elements, a new generation of neutral-molecule high-removal, low-pressure RO membrane technology designed to improve ultrapure water production from recycled wastewater.
The TBW-XHR Series is engineered to double urea removal efficiency compared with conventional RO membranes while achieving high water permeability at low operating pressure. The technology addresses the growing demand for advanced water treatment solutions as semiconductor manufacturers increasingly explore recycled wastewater and seawater as alternative water sources for ultrapure water production.
Addressing Challenging Impurities in Ultrapure Water Production
The production of ultrapure water from recycled wastewater and seawater requires advanced separation technology capable of removing various impurities, including salts, silica, boron, urea and alcohols. Among these contaminants, urea presents a significant challenge due to its small molecular size and electrically neutral characteristics.
Recycled wastewater can contain approximately 30 μg/L of urea, around three times the concentration found in tap water. For semiconductor manufacturing, effective urea removal is particularly important because residual urea can affect the safety of drinking water and the quality of ultrapure water used in photolithography processes.
Enhanced Removal Performance with Low Pressure Operation
To overcome this challenge, Toray developed a new membrane structure control technology that enables selective water permeation while improving the removal of urea, boron, alcohols and other substances. Internal evaluations demonstrated that the TBW-XHR series can achieve nearly 90% urea removal efficiency. This performance can reduce urea concentrations by half during the production of ultrapure water, supporting a stable supply of high-quality ultrapure water required by advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
The TBW-XHR series also demonstrates high removal performance for other challenging contaminants. For the TBW-440XHR model, the reported specifications include a salt rejection rate of 99.8%, a permeate flow rate of 32.0 m³/day, a reference boron removal rate of 92%, and a reference silica removal rate of 99.9% under specified test conditions.
TBW-440XHR RO membrane element designed for high-rejection performance in
ultrapure water production.
The introduction of the TBW-XHR series addresses the demand for improved water quality in current ultrapure water production systems. Although initially developed to support ultrapure water production for semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing, the technology also has potential applications in other water treatment fields, including seawater desalination, brackish water treatment, and wastewater reclamation.
As a provider of advanced water treatment solutions, Reichwelt continues to support the adoption of innovative membrane technologies that contribute to reliable and sustainable water management. The development of Toray® TBW-XHR series RO membranes represents an important step towards improving wastewater reuse and meeting the increasing demand for high-quality water resources.
