Prediction of Permeate Flux During Ultrafiltration of Polysaccharide in a Stirred Batch Cell

Ultrafiltration of polysaccharide macromolecule has been carried out in a stirred batch cell using a fully retentive membrane over a wide range of operating conditions. An unsteady state mass transfer model in conjunction with resistance-in-series model is developed using film theory. The proposed model is used to predict the transient permeate flux decline behavior in gel controlled ultrafiltration. This model is also able to quantify the variation of bulk volume as well as the bulk concentration of solute with time. The variation of viscosity as a function of solute concentration is included in the model. A model parameter is used in this model and is evaluated by optimizing the experimental flux profiles with calculated flux profiles. The model predictions are successfully compared with the experimental data. A parametric study has been performed to observe the effect of different process parameters on the filtration performance in terms of transient permeate flux decline behavior. The proposed model in general will provide a better understanding of gel controlled ultrafiltration.     

Modeling of Sucrose Permeation through a Pectin Gel During Ultrafiltration of Depectinized Mosambi [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] Juice

Ultrafiltration of synthetic juice (mixture of sucrose and pectin with varying composition) as well as enzymatically treated mosambi [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] juice is performed in a batch, unstirred membrane cell. Thin‐film composite polyamide membrane of molecular weight cutoff 50000 was used. The flux decline mechanism is found to be controlled by the growth of a gel layer of pectin over the membrane surface. Using standard cake filtration theory, the flux decline and the growth of gel layer is quantified. The gel layer is characterized in terms of specific gel layer resistance, gel porosity, and gel density. A transient model is proposed and solved numerically to quantify the transport of sucrose through the pectin gel for the synthetic juice and enzymatically treated juice. The hindered diffusion coefficient of sucrose through the gel is calculated by comparing the results with the experimentally obtained permeate concentration profile of sucrose. The calculated permeate concentration profile agrees well with the experimental data.     

Experimental study of water and salt fluxes through reverse osmosis membranes

Water flux and salt rejection rate, which are the two most important parameters in evaluating the performance of a reverse osmosis membrane process, are desirable to be directly related to the membrane properties and operating conditions. However, the membrane transport theories in their general forms are unable to describe the membrane performance satisfactorily. In this study, water and salt fluxes through reverse osmosis membranes were carefully examined with a cross-flow filtration cell under various operating conditions. Experimental results showed that a notable permeate flux was detected when the driving pressure was smaller than the feed osmotic pressure. Water flux increased with the driving pressure nonlinearly before approaching a linear relation with the pressure. In addition, salt transport was highly dependent on both operating pressure and feed salt concentration. A power relationship between salt flux and concentration was correlated well with the experimental data. The equations for water and salt fluxes obtained from this work would provide a facile and accurate means for predicting the membrane performance in design and optimization of reverse osmosis processes.     

陶瓷膜和有机膜超滤处理荔枝汁和膜垢分析及荔枝汁品质研究

应用陶瓷膜和有机膜对荔枝汁进行澄清实验,并进行采用总循环模式(TRM)研究跨膜压力(TMP)和循环流量(Qf)对膜通量(Qp)的影响,确定其各自的最优水平;采用批处理模式(TBM)研究这两个参数最优水平的组合工艺。澄清工艺中：无机陶瓷膜效果优于有机聚醚砜膜,最佳工艺条件为陶瓷膜组件、TMP 0.3MPa、Qf 40L/min。研究在TBM下,膜垢的形成原因,对微分方程--＝k(J－Jlim)J2－n进行拟合,拟合R2为无机膜0.8812和0.8478;有机膜为0.9048,并分析膜垢的形成的模式：有机膜的膜垢主要是层垢(n＝0),无机膜的膜垢形成主要是层垢和部分并在膜垢的综合情况(n＝0,n＝1)。并研究TBM模式下,总糖、总果胶、总蛋白、抗氧化活性等影响果汁品质的物质的动态过程,结果表明：在P＜0.05,无机膜在品质的保持比如总糖、抗氧化活性、总酚的截留滤等方面强于有机膜,其余的品质无显著差异。     

Fundamental Understanding of Fouling Mechanisms During Microfiltration of Bitter Gourd (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Momordica charantia</Emphasis>) Extract and Their Dependence on Operating Conditions

Microfiltration of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) extract using hollow fiber membrane module was carried out in the present study. To identify the dominant fouling mechanism, flux decline behavior was examined using Field model. At lower transmembrane pressure, pore blocking mechanism was found to be more important, while cake filtration was dominant at higher pressure. Higher cross flow rate reduced filtration constant indicating slower rate of membrane fouling. Additionally, surface and particle size analyses were undertaken to validate the findings of modeling. Scanning electron microscope analysis clearly showed prevalence of pore blocking mechanism at lower transmembrane pressure drop, whereas cake filtration was dominant fouling mechanism at higher pressure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis supported the role of cake layer as a secondary membrane retaining some amount of polyphenols. Analysis of flux decline ratio also confirmed that for transmembrane pressure of 104 kPa and beyond, cake layer became compact, and hence, increase in cross flow rate was unable to influence the improvement of permeate flux. The current study provides an insight into the fouling mechanism involved in scaling up of clarification of bitter gourd extract for successful processing of this medicinal herb.     

Identification of Fouling Mechanism During Ultrafiltration of Stevia Extract

Stevioside is one of the naturally occurring sweetener, which can be widely applied in food, drinks, medicine, and daily chemicals. Membrane separation has potential application in clarification of stevioside from pretreated stevia extract by ultrafiltration. In the present study, namely 5-, 10-, 30-, and 100-kDa molecular weight cutoff membranes have been used. Quantification of membrane fouling during ultrafiltration is essential for improving the efficiency of such filtration systems. A systematic analysis was carried out to identify the prevailing mechanism of membrane fouling using a batch unstirred filtration cell. It was observed that the flux decline phenomenon was governed by cake filtration in almost all the membranes. For 100 kDa membrane, both internal pore blocking and cake filtration are equally important. Resistance in series analysis shows that the cake resistance is several orders of magnitude higher than the membrane resistance. The cake resistance is almost independent of transmembrane pressure drop, which indicates the incompressible nature of the cake. A response surface analysis was carried out to quantify the development of cake resistance with time during ultrafiltration of various membranes. Quality parameters show that the 30-kDa membrane is better suited for clarification purposes. Identification of the fouling mechanism would aid in the process of design and scaling up of such clarification setup in future.     

QUANTIFICATION OF FLUX DECLINE OF DEPECTINIZED MOSAMBI (CITRUS SINENSIS[L.] OSBECK) JUICE USING UNSTIRRED BATCH ULTRAFILTRATION

Ultrafiltration of enzymatically treated mosambi (Citrus sinensis [L.] Osbeck) juice was performed in a batch, unstirred membrane cell. Thin film composite polyamide membrane of molecular weight cut‐off 50,000 was used. The flux‐decline mechanism was identified by the growth of a gel‐type layer over the membrane surface. The flux decline, the gel resistance, the gel‐layer thickness and various domains of resistances were calculated at a constant pressure difference in the range of 276–552 kPa. The conventional gel‐filtration theory was employed to analyze the flux‐decline behavior. The calculated permeate flux and gel‐layer resistances were consistent with the experimental results. The calculated gel‐layer thickness varied from 4.12 to 74.1 µm for different operating condition (pressure) and time. The time at which the gel resistance becomes equal to the membrane‐hydraulic resistance ranged from 13 to 31 s for the pressure range studied herein. Thus, the deposited layer resistance to permeate flow was substantial, throughout the whole operation, except in the first few seconds.     

Fouling Analysis and Performance of Tubular Ultrafiltration on Pretreated Olive Mill Waste Water

This study deals with the performance of a tubular ultrafiltration system on sieved and centrifuged olive mill waste water. A generalized statistical model was developed describing the impact and the relative importance of major experimental parameters (membrane pore size, transmembrane pressure, feed flow rate, and feed temperature) on permeate flux. According to this model, process pressure appeared to have the largest impact on permeate flux, followed by process temperature. As membrane treatment of such a difficult material largely depends on fouling, a systematic analysis of prevailing fouling mechanisms was also run. Despite sieving and centrifugation of the original waste, membrane fouling caused a flux decline of 60–65% within 15–20 min. Internal fouling, pore blocking, and cake layer formation were all responsible for membrane fouling during the first 40 min of operation. After that period, cake formation appeared to play a predominant role. Based on the proposed generalized model, the relative importance of process parameters can be evaluated and process performance can be improved by proper interventions. Independent of membrane size, fouling is a serious problem to be resolved. The qualitative performance of this process, including chemical oxygen demand distribution, polyphenol profile, and antioxidant capacity, is discussed in a separate paper.     

ANALYSIS OF THE FOULING MECHANISM IN MICROFILTRATION OF ORANGE JUICE

The purpose of this work is theoretical and experimental evaluation of fouling effects on flux performance in clarification of freshly squeezed orange juice by cross-flow microfiltration. To identify optimum operating conditions to minimize fouling effects, juice was microfiltered on a laboratory scale plant varying axial velocity and transmembrane pressure difference. The observed flux decay was modeled using a modified form of the differential equation used to describe classical dead-end filtration processes. The mechanism of fouling during cross-flow microfiltration was identified by estimation of the model parameters according to a nonlinear regression optimization procedure. Analysis of the results revealed that the separation process is controlled by a cake filtration fouling mechanism as the juice is fed at relatively low velocity (i.e., Re = 5000) and the system is operated at low transmembrane pressure difference. In these operating conditions the permeate flux decays within the first 20–30 min to gradually achieve a limit value. At higher Reynolds number (Re = 15,000), an increase in applied transmembrane pressure (i.e., from 0.3 to 1 bar) allows the limit permeate flux to increase by a factor of about 4. In these conditions the filtration process is controlled by a complete pore blocking fouling mechanism, and the permeate flux becomes approximately invariant with respect to time, and a negligible decay may be observed. Evaluation of specific energy consumption involved in the filtration process is reported.     

Study of different fouling mechanisms during membrane clarification of red plum juice

In this study, the flux decline mechanisms were identified during membrane clarification of red plum juice at several processing parameters, including pore size, membrane type, transmembrane pressure, temperature and velocity. The results were used to investigate the effect of changes in operating conditions on the intensity of membrane fouling. Also, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for analysing fouling‐layer morphology. These results showed that the main mechanism responsible for membrane fouling was cake formation (over 95% fitness) occurring in the first stage of the process. Intermediate, standard and complete blockings were formed during most of the runs as filtration proceeded. The results also indicated that increasing the temperature from 30 to 40 °C was the most effective factor in decreasing cake‐layer fouling, reducing it by about 66.7%. Furthermore, an increase in processing velocity of up to 0.5 m s^?1 had the greatest effect on intermediate blocking, reducing it by about 86.1%. Also, increasing pressure up to 2.9 bar completely eliminated standard blocking and complete blocking. Finally, microstructure analysis of membrane using SEM confirmed that cake formation had the greatest impact on membrane fouling.     

Influence of feed properties on membrane fouling in crossflow microfiltration of particulate suspensions

The effects of the feed concentration (C_feed) and particle size distribution (PSD) on the crossflow microfiltration (CFMF) of suspensions containing lactalbumin particles were investigated. Experiments were carried out in constant transmembrane pressure (TMP) mode using tubular ceramic membrane modules. All the important parameters: permeate flux, internal and surface fouling, cake mass, height, porosity, and PSD were estimated. The steady-state flux (J_ss) decreased, and internal as well surface fouling and cake mass and height all increased with an increase in C_feed from 0.65 to 2.5 gL⁻¹. This was due to the availability of more particles to foul the membrane at higher C_feed. However, above 2.5 gL⁻¹ there was no significant effect of C_feed on any of these parameters. The overall observed behaviour is attributed to steady-state membrane fouling resulting from the availability of sufficient particles for maximum possible deposition under the experimental conditions reached at 2.5 gL⁻¹. The larger the feed particles, the higher was the J_ss. However, the cake mass, height and porosity were not affected by the feed PSD. Significantly, addition of larger feed particles at the steady state increased the flux by about 6%. This behaviour is attributed to the scouring effect of the large particles on the cake surface. There is scope for looking at the possibility of using the scouring effect of large particles to improve the CFMF process performance.     

Influence of operating conditions on membrane fouling in crossflow microfiltration of particulate suspensions

The effects of the operating conditions on the crossflow microfiltration (CFMF) of particulate suspensions were investigated. Lactalbumin particles were used as the feed material. Experiments were carried out in constant transmembrane pressure (TMP) mode using tubular ceramic membrane modules. All important parameters (internal and surface fouling, cake mass, height, porosity, and particle size distribution (PSD)) were estimated to provide a more complete understanding of the process than has been attempted before. Lactalbumin particles which are highly irregular in shape and widely size distributed formed an adhesive cake on the membrane surface during CFMF. The porosity and particle size of the deposited cake decreased with time of filtration. The value 100 kPa was found to be optimum with respect to the permeate flux in the studied range of TMP. Particle size classification effects of TMP and crossflow velocity (CFV) were demonstrated. The results of this study provided a possible explanation to the contradictory reports on the effect of CFV on the steady-state flux and the time required to obtain it. Significantly, the internal fouling first decreased with increasing CFV and then increased above 1.5 m s⁻¹. This is attributed to the particles size classification effect of CFV. A process was developed based on the observed effects of the operating parameters on the CFMF performance that enables operation at very low internal fouling and high flux for as long as 160 min. The developed process has the potential to become commercial if coupled with backflushing.     

陶瓷膜过滤万古霉素的研究

以预处理后万古霉素发酵液为料液,连续洗滤（CFD）过滤的效果更佳,表现在较高通量和收率。考察了陶瓷膜过滤万古霉素发酵液的分离效果,结果表明,通量与黏度成负相关性,50 nm陶瓷膜较优,且设定操作压力290 kPa,膜面流速5 m/s,温度20～30 ℃,浓缩1.66倍,连续洗滤2.5 BV,CFD过滤的平均通量可达78.9 kg/（h·m2）,收率可达99.1%,与数学模型的理论值相近。采用质量分数为2%～3% NaOH与0.5%～1.0% NaClO混合清洗的方法,清洗后陶瓷膜的水通量重复恢复率可达98%以上,再生性较好。     

Secondary wastewater polishing with ultrafiltration membranes for unrestricted reuse: fouling and flushing modeling

The effects of operating parameters such astransmembrane pressure, retentate, and recirculation volumetric flow rates on the productivity of an ultrafiltration membrane were studied using field data and development of a management model. Correlation equations for predicting the volumetric permeate flow rates were derived from general membrane blocking laws and experimental data. The experimental data were obtained from a pilot study carried out in the Arad wastewater treatment system (a pilot plant operating in feed and bleed operation mode) located several kilometers west of the City of Arad, Israel. Correlation predictions were confirmed with the independent experimental results. The results enabled us to develop a mathematical expression accurately describing the decline in flux due to fouling.     

Permeability of collapsed cakes formed by deposition of fractal aggregates upon membrane filtration

We have investigated, theoretically, the physical properties of cake layers formed from aggregates to obtain a better understanding of membrane systems used in conjunction with coagulation/flocculation pretreatment. We developed a model based on fractal theory and incorporated a cake collapse effect to predict the porosity and permeability of the cake layers. The floc size, fractal dimension, and transmembrane pressure were main parameters that we used in these model calculations. We performed experiments using a batch cell device and a confocal laser-scanning microscope to verify the predicted specific cake resistances and porosities under various conditions. Based on the results of the model, the reduction in inter-aggregate porosity is more important than that in intra-aggregate porosity during the cake collapsing process. The specific cake resistance decreases upon increasing the aggregate size and decreasing the fractal dimensions. The modeled porosities and specific cake resistances of the collapsed cake layer agreed reasonably well with those obtained experimentally.     

Modeling of permeate flux of synthetic fruit juice and mosambi juice (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) in stirred continuous ultrafiltration

Ultrafiltration studies of synthetic sucrose and pectin mixture and enzymatically treated mosambi juice have been performed in a stirred continuous cell. A model based on gel layer theory is developed to predict the flux decline during filtration for both synthetic and actual juice. From the steady state flux data, the mass transfer coefficient is observed to vary with operating pressure only and a modified Sherwood number relationship is proposed for such a system. The permeate of the filtered juice contains almost all the nutritional values of the original juice with significant improvement in clarity.     

Analysis of the fouling mechanisms during cross-flow ultrafiltration of apple juice

The purpose of this work was to study the fouling mechanisms of a Carbosep^® M8 membrane during the cross-flow ultrafiltration of apple juice. A new fouling model has been developed that simultaneously considers membrane blocking within the pores, at the pore mouths and by cake formation at the membrane surface. Membrane fouling by apple juice was due to internal pore blocking as well as cake formation. When operating ultrafiltration at a transmembrane pressure of 150 kPa and a cross-flow velocity of 7 m/s, fouling was minimal with a gradual decrease of the relative contribution of cake formation; however, transmembrane pressure still exceeds critical pressure. The fouling model predicts no cake formation at a cross-flow velocity of 7.4 m/s and a transmembrane pressure of 150 kPa or at a cross-flow velocity of 7.0 m/s and a transmembrane pressure of 120 kPa. Under these conditions, internal membrane blocking would be the only mechanism responsible for the decrease of permeate flux.     

超滤法纯化甜荞麦麸皮中黄酮类化合物研究

采用Labscale TFF System对甜荞麦麸皮黄酮粗提液进行纯化,通过对3种不同分子截流量Pellicon XL Filter超滤膜进行比较,选择分子截流量为10,000超滤膜;并研究其在不同样液浓度、样液温度和操作压力下对膜通量,黄酮迁移率和黄酮纯度影响,确定最佳工艺条件。结果表明,分子截流量为10,000超滤膜在样液浓度为0.5 mg/mL、样液温度为30℃、操作压力为2bar条件下,初始膜通量为0.272 ml/cm2.min、黄酮迁移率为91.95%、纯度达28.59%。     

陶瓷膜在晒制酱油生产中的应用

考察了不同工艺段酱油陶瓷膜过滤的分离效果,并以酱油沉降液为料液,优化陶瓷膜过滤条件。结果表明,陶瓷膜应用在酱油沉降工段后较佳,表现在通量衰减慢、膜污染速度慢等。最佳陶瓷膜过滤操作参数为：选用孔径B陶瓷膜,温度40～50 ℃,跨膜压差280 kPa,膜面流速5.5 m/s,反冲工作压力500～600 kPa,反冲间隔时间4 min,反冲时间3 s,反冲排气5 s,浓缩10倍,平均通量85.7 kg/（h·m2）。陶瓷膜渗透液离心无沉淀,菌落总数低于10 CFU/mL,总酸、氨基酸态氮、总氮、盐分及无机盐固形物透过率均达到98%以上。陶瓷膜技术应用在晒制酱油中值得推广。     

Chicory juice clarification by membrane filtration using rotating disk module

Clarification is the first step of inulin production from chicory juice, and membrane filtration as an alternative can greatly simplify this process, increase juice yield, improve product quality, and reduce the cost and waste volume. In this study, a rotating disk module (RDM) was used to investigate the clarification of chicory juice by four micro- and ultrafiltration membranes. Compared with dead end filtration, the RDM had a much higher permeate flux and product quality. High rotating speeds produced high permeate fluxes and reduced flux decline, because of the strong back transport of foulant from fouling layer to feed solution. At high rotating speeds of 1500–2000 rpm, the permeate flux increased with membrane pore size and transmembrane pressure (TMP), while at low rotating speeds (<1000 rpm), permeate flux was independent of membrane type and TMP due to a thick deposited fouling layer as a dominant filtration resistance, while carbohydrate transmission decreased at higher TMP because of denser cake layer as an additional selective membrane. The highest carbohydrate transmission (∼98%) and desirable permeate turbidity (2.4 NTU) was obtained at a TMP of 75 kPa and a rotating speed of 2000 rpm for FSM0.45PP membrane. With the RDM, the Volume Reduction Ratio (VRR) could reach 10 with a high permeate flux (106 L m⁻² h⁻¹) in the concentration test, and permeate was still rich in carbohydrate and well clarified. Chemical cleaning with 0.5% P3-ultrasil 10 detergent solution was able to recover 90% water flux of fouled membrane.