Toray Industries, Inc., announced that it will launch what it has named the TSW-K/M/V series of advanced reverse osmosis (RO) membrane elements for seawater desalination in October this 2026. This offering combines a salt rejection rate unmatched by competitors, the company said. Other benefits are outstanding boron rejection and high chemical resistance.
Salt permeability is up to 55% lower than that of current Toray models. New seawater desalination projects can thus switch from regular two-pass RO membrane treatment to a single-pass process. For existing two-pass facilities, the new series can save energy and improve water quality by alleviating operational loads on second-pass equipment and optimizing operating conditions.
This should help streamline overall water treatment and cut total operating costs. The series also delivers industry-leading performance boron rejection to meet stringent quality requirements for drinking water and industrial applications. Because its chemical resistance exceeds that of current models, the series should limit membrane performance degradation during chemical cleaning. This will stabilize long-term operations and extend RO membrane service lives.
Water shortages continue to worsen worldwide. Demand for seawater desalination should thus grow significantly, particularly in the Middle East. Desalination plants must overcome many hurdles. These include lowering energy consumption, increasing water production, maintaining good permeate water quality, and cutting operating costs. Boron and other neutral substances with small molecular sizes have been a particular challenge, as they resist removal. Developers must therefore improve salt and boron rejection rates while maintaining high permeability.
The new series embodies further advances in precision nanopore control technology and membrane and element formation technologies that Toray has cultivated over many years. By combining quantitative analysis of polyamide pore size distribution, analysis of interactions between membranes and water molecules using Digital Transformation, and analysis of water molecule flow within pores, the company created a novel membrane structure that can minimize the permeation of small-molecule substances such as salt and boron. The series thus delivers an unmatched balance between removing those substances and high water permeability.
Toray has long supplied RO membranes to seawater desalination projects around the globe. It will step up efforts as a seawater desalination leader to innovate water treatment membrane technologies. The company will help advance seawater desalination processes and improve their cost effectiveness in the Middle East and elsewhere to enhance access to safe, affordable water.
