Company Profile

VITO is an autonomous public research institute forming a bridge between scientific knowledge and industrial applications or government policy. Its clients are companies, SMEs, authorities and the scientific world.In VITO the multidisciplinary skills and technological know-how of more than 450 researchers are brought together in 7 centres of expertise dealing with energy consumption in processes, new materials and environmental protection and innovation.

The centre of expertise on Environmental and Process technology supports and improves industrial technological processes. Specific expertise has been build up in the field of membrane technology. The Membrane Technology group has a long background and a solid reputation. More than 15 people are active in the field of membrane development, process design & control and application studies. The emphasis lays on pressure driven membrane processes and membrane bioreactors. Currently, the membrane development activities comprise the fields of separator materials, ceramic membranes and polymeric capillary membranes. Membrane bioreactors have been investigated in terms of micropollutant removal, process optimisation, combination with chemical oxidation processes for treatment of concentrated streams, etc. Furthermore, water treatment trains for water reuse have been designed, constructed and applied in various industrial sectors. Other relevant experience of the Membrane Technology group concerns the development of the Vito Fouling Method (VFM) as an alternative for SDI and MFI to assess fouling potential. In addition, the software package MEFiAS® (Membrane Filtration Assistance Software) was developed in house.Through the centre of expertise in Material technology, VITO is one of the few research groups in Europe with an extensive expertise in atmospheric pressure plasma processing. Current research efforts are focussing on the development of multifunctional coatings for 'smart materials', i.e. products based on common materials with tailored surface properties.