The Characteristic Analysis of Interrupted Flow Pulsation on Ultrafiltration System

Abstract:

Ultrafiltration (UF) process has been widely used in many industrial applications to separate or concentrate macromolecular solution such as the making of fruit juice, the separation of oil-water emulsions, the treatment effluents from the pulp and paper, and environmental protecting applications. However, this process exhibits a limiting flux behavior caused by concentration polarization and consequently reduces the life of the membrane module. Concentration polarization can be especially severe in macromolecular solutions due to low diffusivity in membrane separation. In this study, we introduce an interrupted pulsatile flow to improve the performance of the membrane and decrease the concentration polarization layer. This method involves pulsing the feed flow discontinuously. Our results show that this method can be applied to membrane module regardless of it geometry and materials. Also, when comparing with un-pulsatile module, this could further leader to the improvement of membrane life. Keywords: ultrafiltation, interrupted - pulsating flow, concentration polarization, limiting flux behavior

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 479-480)
• Pages: 373-379
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.479-480.373
• Online since: December 2013
• Authors: Chyouh Wu Huang, Hung Shyong Chen
• Keywords: Concentration Polarization, Interrupted - Pulsating Flow, Limiting Flux Behavior, Ultrafiltation

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