CLL 780

Tutorial 5- Filtration
Basics to revise before solving:
A) Darcys Law
B) Concentration Polarization
C) Diafiltration
Q1. A Buchner funnel 8 cm in diameter is available for testing the
filtration of a cell culture suspension, which has a viscosity of 3.0 cp. The
data in Table below was obtained with a vacuum pressure of 600 mm Hg
applied to the Buchner funnel.
The cell solids on the filter at the end of filtration were dried and found to
weigh 14.0 g. Determine the specific cake resistance and the medium
resistance Rm. Then estimate how long it would take to obtain 10,000 L
of filtrate from this cell broth on a filter with a surface area of 10 m2 and
vacuum pressure of 500 mm Hg.
Time (min)
26
96
197
342
537
692
989

Volume of Filtrate (mL)

100
200
300
400
500
600
690 (end)

Q2. Equipment is available for ultrafiltration of a protein solution at

constant volume to remove low molecular weight species (diafiltration).
The flow channels for this system are tubes 0.1 cm in diameter (Dh) and
100 cm long. The protein has a diffusional coefficient (Diffusional) of 9 X
10 -7 cm2/s. The solution has a viscosity of 1.2 cp and a density of 1.1
g/cm3. The system is capable of operating at a bulk stream velocity of 300
cm/s. At this velocity, determine the polarization modulus for a
transmembrane flux of 45 L/m2h.

Mass transfer coefficient in the turbulent region is given as k = (Diffusional

X Sh) / (Dh). Where Sh is the Sherwood number given as Sh = 0.082 Re0.69
Sc0.33 (Schmidt number).
Q3. It is desired to use a crossflow filtration system to desalt 1000 litres
of a protein solution containing NaCl. The system is capable of operating
at a transmembrane flux of 30 L/m2h. To remove 99.99 % of the salt,
determine the time required and the volume of the water required using a
crossflow filtration unit with a membrane area of 100 m2.
Q4. In a laboratory test of the filtration of a cell culture, the following
equation was obtained to describe the filtration:
t/(V/A) = K1 (V/A) + K2
where K1 = 0.18 min/cm2 and K2 = 0.017 min/cm.
The slurry has a viscosity of 2 cp, and the filter cake solids (dry basis) per
volume of filtrate was 13 g/liter. The pressure drop for the filtration was
610 mm Hg (0 C). Determine the specific cake resistance and the medium
resistance (Rm).
Q5. (a) What TFF system should I use to concentrate 10 liters to 200 mL
in 2.5 hours? Assume the average filtrate flux rate of 50 liters/m2/hour
(L/m2/h, LMH).
(b) We have 50 mL of sample (MW = 54KD) collected from an Anion
Exchange Q chromatography column that was eluted in a buffer solution
(0.05M Tris, 0.5M NaCl). We need to reduce the salt concentration below
0.05M and then concentrate to 10 mL. Using a 50 cm2 TFF capsule with
a 10KD membrane on a TFF system, how long will it take you if the
average filtrate flux rate is 40 LMH and 3 diafiltration volumes (constant
volume diafiltration) are required to get the salt concentration below
0.05M.