8 October 2015 | Amanda Jacob Pentair X-Flow (standard) compared with Helix. Pentair reports that the flux enhancing Helix technology allows for much higher productivity by optimising long-term membrane performance. It does so by preventing the build-up of foulants, which traditionally reduce the hydraulic permeability of membrane systems. The uncontrolled build-up of insoluble foulants/particles increases energy consumption and decreases overall performance. The common answer until now was to step up the crossflow velocity, leading to higher energy consumption. Helix effectively resolves the most important performance bottleneck in high-solids ultrafiltration (UF) by bringing constant turbulence right to the membrane wall. Flux decline in any filtration process is caused by concentration polarisation and fouling, with the solute accumulating to eventually form a cake layer. The introduction of helically winding ridges delivers enhanced mixing and thus significantly reduces this formation of solids, even at low crossflow velocities. With this ongoing cleansing process, more permeate can flow through the membrane without additional energy demand.