MEMBRANE SEPARATION

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 Membrane process classification
• Microfiltration
• Ultrafitration
• Nanofiltration
• Reverse osmosis

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Membrane separation is a family of
filtration processes in which feed is forced
through a semi-permeable barrier
(membrane) at high pressure to separate
specific materials from the solution. These
processes, classified according to
membrane pore size, include
microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF),
nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis
(RO).

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Membranes allow certain molecules or ions to pass
through by diffusion. The rate of passage depends
on the pressure, concentration and temperature of
the molecules or solutes on either side of the
membrane, as well as the permeability of the
membrane to each solute. This depends on solute
size, solubility properties, or chemistry.
Membrane configurations include spiralwrap,
tubular, flatsheets and capillary, and are used to
separate particles ranging from approximately 10
µm and smaller.

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Microfiltration
(MF) provides a physical barrier to a wide range of
microorganisms, pathogens and suspended
particles larger than 0.1 µm. It is a critical step in a
wide range of treatment applications, including
potable water treatment and industrial and
municipal wastewater treatment, where it acts as
both filter and disinfectant. Microfiltration
typically requires less than 2 bar pressure for the
membrane separation process.

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Ultrafiltration
(UF) is used to remove particulates and
macromolecules from water in potable water and
wastewater treatment. Ultrafiltration membranes
have a pore size between 100 and 2 nm and require
1 to 10 bar pressure to operate. E.g.,large
macromolecules such as proteins,starches

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Nanofiltration
(NF) is used in water treatment applications with low
total dissolved solids. It is used for water softening
and the removal of organic by-products that may
result from earlier disinfection treatment. By retaining
scale-forming hydrated divalent ions while passing
smaller hydrated monovalent ions, nanofiltration is an
effective water softening solution. Nanofiltration is
achieved with membranes with pore sizes from 2 to 1
nm requiring 3 to 20 bar pressure.
e.g., monovalent ions like sodium,chloride

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Reverse Osmosis
(RO), which uses membranes with pores of less than 1
nm, is used to separate salts, ions and small organic
molecules from feed water. Reverse osmosis is used in
treating potable, ultrapure and process water, and is a key
process in brackish and seawater desalination. Because of
the low porosity of these membranes, RO requires high
pressures (typically up to 80 bar) to function.

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 Membrane configurations

• Tubular
• Hollow fibre
• Spiral wound
• Plate and frame
• Flatsheet membranes

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 Tubular: where membranes are placed inside
support porous tubes, and these tubes are placed
together in a cylindrical shell to form the unit
module. Tubular modules work through
tangential crossflow and are generally used to
process difficult feed streams such as those with
high dissolved solids, high suspended solids,
and/or oil, grease, or fats. They typically have ½”
to 1” OD tubes that are packed individually into a
long PVC housing and can be either polymer- or
ceramic-based.

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Tubular modules consist of a minimum of two
tubes; the inner tube, called the membrane tube,
and the outer tube, which is the shell. The feed
stream goes across the length of the membrane
tube and is filtered out into the outer shell while
concentrate collects at the opposite end of the
membrane tube. They are commonly used for
applications such as oily wastewater treatment,
MBR and other high solids processes

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Tubular membrane

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Hollow fibre

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Hollow fiber filtration utilizes thousands of long,
porous filaments ranging from 1-3.5mm wide, that
are potted in place in a PVC shell. Each filament is
very narrow in diameter and flexible. Hollow fiber can
find uses in all types of filtration, ranging from
microfiltration to reverse osmosis.

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Hollow fiber filtration works on the same principle
as tubular and capillary configurations but utilizes a
small tube diameter which allows for
flexibility. Common applications for hollow fiber
membranes include membrane bioreactor (MBR),
RO pretreatment, Industrial water/wastewater, juice
processing, and biotech applications.

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Spiral wound

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Spiral-wound elements can be used for a variety of
different applications including whey protein
concentration, lactose concentration, cathodic/anodic
paint recovery, dye desalting and concentration,
sulfate removal, and oil separation in wastewater
applications

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Plate And Frame Membranes
systems utilize membranes laid on top of a plate-like
structure, which in turn is held together
by a frame-like support. Flat sheet membranes
are bolted together with a frame around the
perimeter; similar to a heat exchanger or filter press.

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Because the flow is perpendicular to the membrane,
dead-end plate and frame membrane separation
works through a process called cake filtration. Cake
filtration starts when the feed solution passes
through the filter plates and creates a buildup of
solids on the filter surface. This buildup, or cake
layer, reduces the effective pore size opening of the
filter and helps improve the filtration of the feed
solution.

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Common applications for plate & frame
configurations include cosmetics
production, MBR, and specialty high
solids food and beverage applications.

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Flat sheet membranes ,Ultrafiltration
membranes have a molecular weight cut-off
range of 1,000 to 500,000Da.
(Dalton,Da=g/mol)
These types of membranes have the ability to
reject large macromolecules and proteins,
and are widely applied throughout the
dairy, food & beverage, biotech, and
pharmaceutical industries.

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Flat sheet membranes

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Pervaporation
is a processing method for the separation of
mixtures of liquids by partial vaporization
through a non-porous or porous membrane.
The term pervaporation is derived from the
two steps of the process:
(a) permeation through the membrane
by the permeate ,
then (b) its evaporation into the vapor phase

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The membrane acts as a selective barrier
between the two phases: the liquid-phase
feed and the vapor-phase permeate. It
allows the desired component(s) of the
liquid feed to transfer through it by
vaporisation . Separation of components is
based on a difference in transport rate of
individual components through the
membrane.

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Typically, the upstream side of the membrane is at
ambient pressure and the downstream side is
under vacuum to allow the evaporation of the
selective component after permeation through
the membrane. Driving force for the separation is
the difference in the partial pressures of the
components on the two sides and not
the volatility difference of the components in the
feed

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Examples include solvent dehydration:
dehydrating the ethanol/water and
isopropanol/water azeotropes, continuous
ethanol removal from yeast fermentors ,
continuous water removal from condensation
reactions such as esterifications

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Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally
driven separational program in which
separation is enabled due to phase change.
A hydrophobic membrane displays a barrier
for the liquid phase , allowing the vapour
phase (e.g. water vapour) to pass through
the membrane's pores. The driving force of
the process is given by a partial vapour
pressure difference commonly triggered by
a temperature difference.

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