Applicability Assessment of Subcritical Flux Operation in Crossflow Microfiltration with a Concentration Polarization Model
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 4
Abstract
In the process of crossflow microfiltration, a deposit of cake layer tends to form on the membrane, which usually controls the performance of filtration. However it is found that there exists a condition under which no deposit of cake layer is made. This condition is called the subcritical flux condition and the maximum flux in the condition here is called the critical flux. Which means, it is a flux below which a decline of flux with time due to the deposit of cake layer does not occur. This study develops a concentration polarization model to predict the critical flux condition and to study about its characteristics. The model is verified with experimental results. For the model, the concept of effective particle diameter is introduced to find a representative size of various particles in relation to diffusive properties of particles. The modeling and the experimental results include that the critical flux condition can be determined by the use of effective particle diameter and the ratio of initial permeate flux to crossflow velocity. This study also finds that the (sub)critical flux operation is limited for the real world application because of the limitation to increasing crossflow velocity and its sensitivity to the change of feed composition.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Belfort, G., Davis, R. H., and Zydney, A. L.(1994). “Review: The behavior of suspensions and macromolecular solution in crossflow microfiltration.” J. Membr. Sci., 96, 1–58.
Bouchard, C. R., Carreau, P. J., Matsuura, T., and Sourirjan, S.(1994). “Modeling of ultrafiltration: prediction of concentration polarization effect.” J. Membr. Sci., 97, 215–229.
Brian, P. L. T.(1965). “Concentration polarization in reverse osmosis desalination with variable flux and incomplete salt rejection.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam., 4, 439–445.
Chen, V., Fane, A. G., Madaeni, S., and Wenten, I. G.(1997). “Particle deposition during membrane filtration of colloids: Transition between concentration polarization and cake formation.” J. Membr. Sci., 125, 109–122.
Defrance, L., and Jaffrin, M. Y.(1999). “Comparison between filtrations at fixed transmembrane pressure and fixed permeate flux: Application to a membrane bioreactor used for wastewater treatment.” J. Membr. Sci., 152(2), 203–210.
Field, R. W., Wu, D., Howell, J. A., and Gupta, B. B.(1995). “Critical flux concept for microfiltration fouling.” J. Membr. Sci., 100, 259–272.
Ghayeni, S. B. S., Maddaeni, S. S., Fane, A. G., and Schneider, R. P.(1996). “Aspects of microfiltration and reverse osmosis in municipal wastewater reuse.” Desalination, 106(1–3), 25–29.
Howell, J. A.(1995). “Sub-critical flux operation of microfiltration.” J. Membr. Sci., 107, 165–171.
Huisman, I. H., Vellenga, E., Tragardh, G., and Tragardh, C.(1999). “The influence of the membrane zeta potential on the critical flux for crossflow microfiltration of particle suspensions.” J. Membr. Sci., 156(1), 153–158.
Kleinstreuer, C., and Paller, M. S.(1983). “Laminar dilute suspension flows in plate-and-frame ultrafiltration units.” AIChE J., 29(4), 529–533.
Kwon, D. Y. (1998). “Experimental investigation on critical flux in cross-flow microfiltration.” PhD thesis, Faculty of Eng. Environmental Eng. Group, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
Lee, Y., and Clark, M. M.(1997). “A numerical model of steady-state permeate flux during cross-flow ultrafiltration.” Desalination, 109, 241–251.
Li, H., Fane, A. G., Coster, H. G. L., and Vigneswaran, S.(1998). “Direct observation of particle deposition on the membrane surface during crossflow microfiltration.” J. Membr. Sci., 149(1), 83–97.
Ma, R. P., Gooding, C. H., and Alexander, W. K.(1985). “A dynamic model for low-pressure, hollow-fiber ultrafiltration.” AIChE J., 31(10), 1728–1732.
Madaeni, S. S., Fane, A. G., and Wiley, D. E.(1999). “Factors influencing critical flux in membrane filtration of activated sludge.” J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol., 74(6), 539–543.
Owen, G., Bandi, M., Howell, J. A., and Churchouse, S. J.(1995). “Economic assessment of membrane processes for water and wastewater treatment.” J. Membr. Sci., 102, 77–91.
PAMAS. (1992). User Guide Model PAMAS-2120, Germany.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 23, 1999
Accepted: Oct 17, 2001
Published online: Apr 1, 2002
Published in print: Apr 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.