Particle Fouling in Air-Sparged Cross-Flow Microfiltration
Advancing the chemical engineering fundamentals
Filtration (T2-11P)
Keywords: cross-flow microfiltration, particle fouling, membrane separation, air-bubble sparging, cake properties
The particle fouling in air-sparged cross-flow microfiltration is studied on a microscopic viewpoint. Since the injection of air bubbles increases the shear stress acting on the membrane surface and decreases the deposition probability of solid particles, this is an efficient method to enhance the flux in cross-flow microfiltration. The filtration flux and cake properties under various operating conditions, such as cross-flow velocity, filtration pressure, particle size distribution, bubble size and sparging intensity are analyzed based on hydrodynamics. The results indicate that the filtration flux can be markedly enhanced by increasing gas velocity due to the reduction of particle fouling. Furthermore, the filtration flux increases with both increasing cross-flow velocity and filtration pressure. These trends can be reasonably explained by the variations of cake properties under various conditions. A relationship among filtration flux, shear stress and overall filtration resistance is also derived based on the force balance model; the resulting equation can be verified by experimental data.
Presented Tuesday 18, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Filtration (T2-11P).
