Advances in membrane processes coupled with supercritical fluid technology

Supercritical fluid and membrane technology may be of great interest to the public due to their environmentally benign applications and less energy-consuming requirement. However, some serious drawbacks are still unavoidable when they are applied separately. A novel idea of integrating both supercritical fluid and membrane technology into a single process is proposed. The integration will gain advantages over either supercritical fluid or membrane technology. Research progress in the coupled technology of both supercritical fluid and membrane is reviewed and what have been achieved in the past and what is most concern for academic research and industrial applications of this hybrid technology is presented. The topics such as the recovery of supercritical solvents, modified membrane separation, enhanced supercritical fluid extraction and supercritical reactions in membrane reactors etc., are highlighted. Finally, the key problems and future development direction are pointed out.