One platform across the whole salinity range
Most of what Osmosys delivers is built around MBC™, the membrane brine concentrator. The supporting stages exist to hand it the feed where it does its best work—together they carry a stream from dilute feed to 280,000 mg/L on standard reverse-osmosis equipment.
- MBC™ concentration ceiling
- 280,000mg/L
- MBC™ energy, vs 25–60 thermal
- 5–12kWh/m³
- Where conventional RO stops
- 90g/L
Where each technology stops
Each stage is optimized for its own concentration range, and the ranges overlap. A stream is carried from feed to crystallization on one train, without a thermal handoff in the middle.
mg/L TDS
| Lane | Range | From (mg/L TDS) | To (mg/L TDS) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEBRO™ | SEBRO™ | 0 | 25,000 | Dilute brines |
| SAMRO™ | SAMRO™ | 20,000 | 90,000 | Mid-range, adaptive |
| MBC™ | MemBrine Concentrator™ | 90,000 | 280,000 | 5–12 kWh/m³ |
| Crystallizer | Crystallization | 280,000 | 300,000 | The residue only |
Energy is the cost driver
Evaporation is not expensive because of the equipment—it is expensive because of the energy.
Specific energy by route, per cubic metre of water removed. Published envelopes from the July 2026 decks.
kWh/m³ of water removed
| Route | Duty | Specific energy (kWh/m³) |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional RO | to 90,000 mg/L | 2.7–4 |
| MemBrine Concentrator™ | 90,000–280,000 mg/L | 5–12 |
| Mechanical vapor compression | the first thermal step | 15–20 |
| Thermal brine concentration | the evaporator | 20–30 |
| Crystallization | the finish, on the whole flow | 35–60 |
Platform specification
Published operating envelopes. Project-specific figures are set by the design basis for the actual feed.
| Stage | Envelope, mg/L TDS | Specific energy | Equipment | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEBRO™ | feed to 25,000 | — | Standard RO membranes & vessels | First stage on dilute feeds |
| SAMRO™ | 20,000 → 90,000 | 0.48 kWh/m³ on seawater | Standard RO membranes & vessels | Salinity-adaptive high-recovery desalination |
| MBC™ | 90,000 → 220–280,000 | 5–12 kWh/m³ | Standard RO membranes & vessels | Brine concentration before crystallization |
| Thermal alternative | from 90,000 | 25–60 kWh/m³ | Evaporator / crystallizer | What the membrane train replaces |
- SEBRO™
- Envelope, mg/L TDS
- feed to 25,000
- Specific energy
- —
- Equipment
- Standard RO membranes & vessels
- Role
- First stage on dilute feeds
- SAMRO™
- Envelope, mg/L TDS
- 20,000 → 90,000
- Specific energy
- 0.48 kWh/m³ on seawater
- Equipment
- Standard RO membranes & vessels
- Role
- Salinity-adaptive high-recovery desalination
- MBC™
- Envelope, mg/L TDS
- 90,000 → 220–280,000
- Specific energy
- 5–12 kWh/m³
- Equipment
- Standard RO membranes & vessels
- Role
- Brine concentration before crystallization
- Thermal alternative
- Envelope, mg/L TDS
- from 90,000
- Specific energy
- 25–60 kWh/m³
- Equipment
- Evaporator / crystallizer
- Role
- What the membrane train replaces
| Stage | Envelope, mg/L TDS | Specific energy | Equipment | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEBRO™ | feed to 25,000 | — | Standard RO membranes & vessels | First stage on dilute feeds |
| SAMRO™ | 20,000 → 90,000 | 0.48 kWh/m³ on seawater | Standard RO membranes & vessels | Salinity-adaptive high-recovery desalination |
| MBC™ | 90,000 → 220–280,000 | 5–12 kWh/m³ | Standard RO membranes & vessels | Brine concentration before crystallization |
| Thermal alternative | from 90,000 | 25–60 kWh/m³ | Evaporator / crystallizer | What the membrane train replaces |
MemBrine Concentrator™
Closing the energy gap in brine concentration
Conventional RO stops at about 90,000 mg/L, and everything above that has meant thermal evaporation at 25 to 60 kWh/m³. MBC™ carries the stream to 220,000–280,000 mg/L at 5–12 kWh/m³ on standard RO membranes and pressure vessels. This is the platform most Osmosys projects are built around.
- Closes the energy gap
- Membrane duty at 5–12 kWh/m³ where thermal needs 25 to 60.
- Standard equipment
- No specialized high-pressure or thermal equipment needed.
- ZLD front end
- Concentrates brine to crystallization-ready levels, so the crystallizer is sized for what is left.
- Proven commercial
- First generation deployed in Indonesia, 2022.
- vs conventional RO
- 3× the concentration ceiling—90,000 to 280,000 mg/L.
- vs thermal systems
- Up to 5× lower energy consumption.
- vs evaporation ponds
- Eliminates 18–24 month timelines.
SAMRO™
Desalination that adapts to the feed
Conventional reverse osmosis is designed around a fixed, well-behaved feed. SAMRO™ adapts its operating point to the salinity in front of it—including fouling and chemically difficult waters—across the 20,000 to 90,000 mg/L range. In most Osmosys trains, it is the stage that prepares the feed for MBC™.
- No interstage boosting required
- Eliminates complex pumping systems.
- Adaptive operation
- Automatically adjusts to feed salinity variations.
- Dual permeate streams
- Separates high and lower-quality water for optimal use.
- Lower specific energy
- 0.48 kWh/m³ on seawater, against 0.55 for the next best conventional configuration.
Specific energy consumption
Against the alternatives a desalination project would realistically be tendering, on the same seawater feed.
kWh/m³ permeate
| Configuration | kWh/m³ |
|---|---|
| SAMRO™ | 0.48 |
| Batch + HP tank | 0.55 |
| Batch + PX | 0.57 |
| CCRO | 0.82 |
| RO + PX | 1.24 |
| Standard RO | 1.36 |
SEBRO™ · Semi-batch RO
The cheapest water comes out first
On dilute feeds—brackish water, treated effluent, the front end of a ZLD train—a cyclic semi-batch stage recovers most of the water at the lowest point on the energy curve. SEBRO™ desalinates brines up to 25,000 mg/L and hands a concentrated, stable feed to SAMRO™.
- Semi-batch operation
- Cyclic pressurization follows the feed's rising osmotic pressure instead of over-sizing for the worst case.
- Anti-fouling by design
- Low flux variation over the pressure vessel, and time-variant flux and pressure across the membrane.
- The front end of the train
- Takes dilute, variable feeds and hands SAMRO™ a stream inside its design envelope.
- Feed envelope
- Dilute brines up to 25,000 mg/L TDS.
- Position in the train
- First stage on low-salinity feeds, ahead of SAMRO™.
- Equipment
- Standard RO membranes and pressure vessels.
Lithium integration
Lithium integration, built around the extraction step you choose
Osmosys does not sell an extraction chemistry. MBC™ works with the DLE process a project has already chosen—adsorption, ion exchange, or electrochemical—and changes what that chemistry is fed: concentration first, extraction second, and a lithium salt stream concentrated to crystallization strength.
- Pre-concentration
- MBC™ concentrates the lithium-bearing stream ahead of extraction or conversion.
- Any DLE chemistry
- Compatible with all direct-lithium-extraction processes; the selective step stays with the project's chosen technology.
- No fresh water make-up
- Processing and regeneration run on water recovered from the brine itself.
- Crystallization-ready
- A 200 g/L lithium salt stream sets a 50–90% smaller crystallizer footprint.
A first read on your stream
Send the flow, the chemistry, and the target. A process engineer replies with a first read on recovery, energy, and the train worth piloting.