History of Membranes
Jack Bush
Founder of Millipore
History of Membrane Filters
Developed in 1935 by Professor Sigmondy of the University of Göttingen in Germany, membrane filters were first commercially produced by Sartorius GmbH a few years later. Membrane filters found immediate application in the field of microbiology and in assessment of safe drinking water, particularly in Germany after World War II where saturation bombing resulted in widespread water contamination.Membranes declassified
In the early 1950s, the Lovell Chemical Company, a small business located outside of Boston, Massachusetts, won a contract with the U.S. Army Chemical Corps to develop and manufacture membrane-based filtering devices and systems to separate the molecular components of fluid samples.When membranes were declassified in 1953 and offered for commercial use, Jack Bush, a Lovell employee, bought Lovell Chemical Company’s rights to the technology and established the Millipore Filter Company, named for a sponge that lives in the Adriatic Sea. The name was later changed to Millipore Corporation to reflect its wide range of products for fluid analysis and purification.
Growing number of applications
In its early years, Millipore made major contributions to water microbiology methods that have become part of the standard of the US Public Health Service. Separation technologies and products were needed not only by researchers, but also by medical schools, hospitals and dialysis centers, and many industries – including the pharmaceutical, chemical, plastics, food and beverage, and microelectronics industries.Further development of microfilters occurred in the mid 1970's, driven by the FDA's requirement that non-fiber releasing filters be used in the production of injectable solutions.
In 1987, microfiltration membranes were introduced to the municipal water treatment market and applied primarily to treat cold, clear source waters that were susceptible to microbial contamination. Membranes that could be used at low pressure were selected to remove turbidity spikes and pathogens without chemically conditioning the water.
As low pressure membranes increased in acceptance and popularity, users began to apply the technology to more difficult water streams, which contained more solids and higher levels of dissolved organics. Some of these streams required chemical pretreatment, including chlorination. These shifts in water quality triggered changes in low pressure membrane technology. New products and processes were introduced to deal with higher solids content and chemical compatibility.