MEMBRANE SEPARATIONS

 The most rapidly advances area of filtration technology.

 There are three major types of membrane-based filtration techniques: (1)

microfiltration, (2) ultrafiltration, and (3) reverse osmosis
 They are classed according to the particle size they commonly remove from
solutions.

Microfiltration

 Retain particles as small as 0.1 m.

 - They retain even the smallest bacteria.
- They will not retain dissolved proteins.

 Used extensively in bioprocesses as sterile filter for both liquid and gas streams.
 They are used to filter-sterilize heat-sensitive media.

Ultrafiltration

 Being able to retain dissolved proteins with molecular weights as low as a few
thousand.

 Rated in terms of their molecular-weight cutoff.

 Widely used in the separation of biological products.

Reverse Osmosis
 Retain not only proteins but also dissolved ionic salts and small organic molecules
with MW in the hundreds.

 Used most extensively in the purification of water and the concentration of

biological and food processing streams.

Diafiltration
 An alternative method of operating an ultrafilter.
 Repeated or continuous addition of fresh solvent (usually water) in an
ultrafiltration system.
 To wash out any contaminants not retained by the membrane.

 A continuous countercurrent diafiltration system:

Electrodialysis
 Employ semi-permeable ion-exchange membranes that are impervious to water.

 The separation is electrically driven instead of pressure-driven.

Cross-Flow Filtration
“Most of the pressure drop in conventional filtration comes from the cake.”

* Concentration polarization:
accumulation of solute near the
membrane surface

* We may wish that we could filter

without a filter cake.
 Use filtration where cross flow
is dominant.
ULTRAFILTRATION

 Ultrafiltration is a membrane process; it involves solvent transport under pressure.

 Because of the range of pore sizes in an ultrafiltration membrane, there is no

absolute cutoff point.

 Ultrafiltration processes have three distinctive characteristics:

(1) Use of high cross flow
 Reduce cake formation or concentration polarization.
(2) Dominated by the membrane
 In conventional filtration, the choice of filter medium usually has little
effect on flow through the cake.
(3) Filtration performance depends on the membrane geometry in actual
equipment.
  For hollow fiber, feed streams generally need to be prefiltered.

 Operation of a batch ultrafiltration:

* Ultrafiltration slows down as the solute concentration increases.

 Re-dilution once or twice may be useful before finally collecting the
retentate.
ANALYSIS OF ULTRAFILTRATION

In ultrafiltration, the species transported is the solvent and the chief force is the
transmembrane pressure (P).
Solvent velocity  force on solvent
 k  P
Darcy's law: v   P  jv   L p P
    ( Rm  R p )

where  = thickness the membrane

 = viscosity of the permeate
jv = the volume of solvent per area per time (or the solvent velocity)
Rm = membrane resistance
Rp = resistance of the polarized boundary layer
Lp = the permeability

Taking the osmotic pressure into consideration,

 jv  LP ( P   )

where  = the osmotic pressure

 = a reflection coefficient
*  = 1  The membrane rejects all solutes.
*  = 0  The membrane freely passes both solvent and solute.
Estimation of Osmotic Pressure—the van’t Hoff equation (1885)
 = c1RT
where c1 = molar concentration of solute (mol/L)
R = gas law constant (0.082 L atm mol1 K1)
T = absolute temperature

 The van’t Hoff equation should only be used at low molar concentrations.
* Osmotic pressure of aqueous sucrose solutions at 30C:

Sucrose concentration Osmotic pressure, atm

Molality Molar conc., van’t Hoff Experimental
(mol/1000 g M (mol/L of equation
of water) solution)
0.991 0.817 20.3 27.2
1.646 1.220 30.3 47.5
2.366 1.570 39.0 72.5
3.263 1.924 47.8 105.9
4.108 2.181 54.2 144.0
5.332 2.475 61.5 204.3
 At higher concentrations, the van’t Hoff equation significantly
underpredicts the osmotic pressure.

 The van’t Hoff equation can be readily used for many types of biotechnology
products, particularly macromolecules.
 Their maximum concentrations are often much less than 1 molar.

 The van’t Hoff equation is a special case of the Gibbs equation for a binary system
consisting of water and a solute.
 RT
Gibbs equation :   ln x 2
V2

where V2 is the molar volume of water, and x2 is the mole fraction of water.
n1 n
When x2 >> x1  ln x 2  ln(1  x1 )   x1    1
n1  n 2 n2

 RT  n1 
      c1 RT
V2  n2 
[Example] Ultrafiltration of a well-stirred suspension containing 0.1 vol% yeast
suspension gives a flux of 36 gal/ft2-day under a pressure difference of 130 psi. (a)
What is the value of Lp? (b) What is the water velocity through the membrane?

Solution:
(a) The yeast cells have a very high molecular weight, so that their molar
concentration and the resulting osmotic pressure will be small.
jv  LP ( P   )  L p P

gal
36 2
 L p (130 psi)  Lp = 0.28 gal/ft2-day-psi
ft - day

(b) The water velocity through the membrane = jv

gal  3785 cm 3   ft 2  day 
 36    2
= 0.0017 cm/s
ft - day  gal   (30.48 cm)   24  3600 s 
2

Molecular Weight of Yeast Cell

d 3
d = 8 m ,  = 1.05 g/cm3, V  = 2.7  1010 cm3
6
 MW = (6.02  1023)(2.7  1010)(1.05) = 1.7  1014
Estimation of Surface Concentration

Material balance:
Rate of solute accumulation
= (rate of solute flow in)  (rate of solute diffuse out)
dc
 0  cj v  D
dx
B. C. 1: x = 0, c = c10
D c10
B. C. 2: x =  , c = c1  jv  ln
 c1

[Example] We are carrying out the ultrafiltration of chymotrypsin in a spiral wound

module at a rate of 1.3  105 cm/s. The solution concentration is 0.44 wt%, the
protein’s diffusion coefficient is 9.5  107 cm2/s, and the boundary layer is about
0.018 cm thick. How high is the surface concentration?

Solution:
D c10
jv  ln
 c1

9.5  10 7 c10 c10

1.3  10 5  ln   1 .3
0.018 c1 c1
#
A Simplified Case of Batch Concentration
Assumptions:
(1) There is little concentration polarization.  c10 = c1
 When (c10 – c1)/c1 < 0.1, the effect of concentration polarization can be
neglected.
(2) The membrane rejects all the solute.   = 1
dV  c RT 
  Ajv   ALp (P  )   ALp P1 1 
dt  P 
(V = liquid volume in the system)
dV  n RT / P 
   AL p P1  1 
dt  V 

I. C.: t = 0, V = V0

1   n1 RT   V0  n1 RT / P 
t (V0  V )    ln 
AL p P   P   V  n1 RT / P 
[Example] We want to ultrafilter 840 L of a solution containing 0.061 wt% of a
protein used as a vaccine for herpes. This protein has a diffusion coefficient of 1.1 
106 cm2/s and a molecular weight of 16,900. We would like to get the
concentration up to about 2% by weight. The ultrafilter, which we hope to use, has
eight hollow fiber cartridges, each of which has a surface area of 1.20 m2. It is
cooled to 4C during the operation. The membrane in these cartridges gives an
initial flux of 5.7  105 cm/s under a pressure drop of 31 atm. Assuming negligible
concentration polarization, estimate the time to complete this filtration.

1   n1 RT   V0  n1 RT / P 
Solution: t (V0  V )    ln 
AL p P   P   V  n1 RT / P 

V0 = 840 L
 0.061 % 
V  840 L     25.62 L
 2% 
0.061%  (840  10 3 ) g
n1   0.03 mol
16900 g/mol

n1 RT (0.03 mol)(0.082 L - atm/mol- K)(277  K)

  0.02 L
P 31 atm
Initial flux: jv  LP ( P   )
0.03 mol  L - atm  4
  c10 RT   ( 277 K ) = 8.11  10 atm

 0.082 
840 L  mol- K 
cm
5.7  105 = Lp (31  8.11  104)  Lp = 1.84  106
s - atm
ALpP = (8  1.2  104)(1.84  106)(31) = 5.48 cm3/s = 5.48  103 L/s
1   n1 RT   V0  n1 RT / P 
t (V0  V )    ln 
AL p P   P   V  n1 RT / P 

1   840  0.02 
(840  25.62)  0.02 ln 25.62  0.02  = 1.486  10 s = 41.3 h
5

5.48  10  3   
#
CONCENTRATION POLARIZATION IN ULTRAFILTRATION
Material balance for solute in the
boundary layer:
(Flux of solute in due to convection)
= (flux of solute out due to diffusion)
c1 
dc dc jv
 jv c   D
dx
 c c   D 0 dx
10

c10 j  j
 ln  v  v
c1 D kc

Correlation for flow inside pipes (for turbulent flow):

N Sh  0.0096N Re N Sh  0.082 N Re
0.913 0.346 0.69 0.33
N Sc or N Sc

kc d
NSh (Sherwood number) = (d: pipe diameter)
D
vd
NRe (Reynolds number) =


NSc (Schmidt number) =
D

 cross - sectional area 

* Equivalent diameter of the flow channel  4 
 wetted perimeter 

c10
* Concentration polarization becomes severe when  10.
c1

* Prediction of liquid diffusivities—Stokes-Einstein equation (for particles or large

spherical molecules, VA > 500 cm3/mol)
7.32  10 16 T
D
r0 

T = absolute temperature, K
r0 = radius of the particles, cm
 = viscosity of solution, cP
VA =molar volume of solute as liquid at its normal boiling point, cm3/g mol
[Example] Equipment is available for ultrafiltration of a protein solution at constant
volume to remove low molecular weight species (achieved by the addition of water or
buffer to the feed in an operation called diafiltration). The flow channels for this
system are tubes 0.1 cm in diameter and 100 cm long. The protein has a diffusion
coefficient of 9  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 bulk stream velocity of 300 cm/s.
At this velocity, determine the polarization modulus (c10/c1) for a transmembrane flux
of 45 L m2 h1.

Solution:
N Sh  0.082 N Re
0.69 0.33
N Sc
 g  cm 
1.1 3  300 0.1 cm 
vd  cm  s 
N Re    2750
 1.2  10 -2 g
cm - s
g
1.2  10  2
 cm - s
N Sc    1.21  10 4
D  g   7 cm 
2

1.1 3  9  10 
 cm  s 
kcd
N Sh   0.082( 2750) 0.69 (1.21  10 4 ) 0.33  431
D
cm 2
9  10  7
D s  3.88  10  3 cm
k c  N Sh   431 
d 0.1 cm s
 L  1000 cm 3 m2 h 
 45 2   4  
c10 jv c10  jv   m -h  L 10 cm 2 3600 s  
ln    exp   exp  1.38
c1 k c c1  kc   - 3 cm 
 3.88  10 
s
 

#
[Example] A tubular membrane with a diameter of 2 cm and a water permeability
of 250 L/m2-h-atm is used for ultrafiltration of cheese whey. The solution velocity
is 1.5 m/s and the protein concentration is 10 g/L. The whey proteins have an
average diffusivity of 4  107 cm2/s, and the osmotic pressure in atm is given by
Jonsson’s equation:
 = 4.4  103c  1.7  106c2 + 7.9  108c3
where c is the protein concentration in g/L. Calculate the applied pressure if the
permeate flux is 103 cm/s. Assume the protein rejection is 100 percent and the bulk
solution has the same density and viscosity as water.

Solution:
vd (1 g/cm 3 )(150 cm/s)(2 cm)
N Re    30,000
 0.01 g/cm - s
 0.01 g/cm - s
N Sc    25,000
D (1 g/cm 3 )( 4  10  7 cm 2 / s)
kc d
N Sh  = 0.0096NRe0.913NSc0.346 = 3.9  103
D
N Sh D (3.9  103 )( 4  10 7 )
 kc    7.8  10  4 cm/s
d 2
c10 j c10 10 3
ln  v  ln   c10 = 36.04 g/L
c1 k c 10 7.8  10  4

 = 4.4  103c  1.7  106c2 + 7.9  108c3 = 0.16 atm

Permeability, Lp
L 1000 cm 3   m2  h 
 250    2   = 6.94  103 cm/s-atm
 10000 cm   3600 s 
2
m - h - atm  L

Permeate flux, jv  LP ( P   )
 0.001 = 6.94  103 (P  0.16)  P = 0.304 atm
#
CONCENTRATION POLARIZATION IN ULTRAFILTRATION
WITH PARTIAL REJECTION OF SOLUTES
dc
jv c  D  jv c2
dx
B.C.1: c = c10 at x = 0
B.C.2: c = c1 at x = 
The solution is:
c10  c 2 j  j
ln  v  v
c1  c 2 D kc

jv jv
 c10  c2 = (c1  c2)exp  c10 = c2 + (c1  c2)exp
kc kc

c  c  j   j 
 c10  c1  2  1  2  exp v   c1 1  R  Rexp v 
 c1  c1  kc   kc 

c2
where R  1  , the fraction rejected
c1

Assume the permeate concentration, c2, is in equilibrium with c10, i.e., c2 = Kc10.
c10 c j 1 j
 2  1  R  Rexp v  (1  R )  1  R  Rexp v
c1 Kc1 kc K kc

1 R j 1 1 K R j
 1 exp v  1   exp v
K 1 R kc K K 1 R kc

1 R K j
  exp v
R 1 K kc

 (1) The rejection, R, approaches (1  K) as the permeate flux, jv, approaches

zero.
(2) The rejection decreases with increasing the permeate flux.
[Example] Ultrafiltration tests with a 1.5-cm tubular membrane at NRe = 25,000
gave a permeate flux of 40 L m2 h1 and 75 percent rejection for a 5 percent polymer
solution. The polymer has an estimated diffusivity of 5  107 cm2/s. The bulk
solution has the same density and viscosity as water. Predict the fraction rejected
for a flux of 20 L m2 h1. What is the maximum rejection?

Solution:
 0.01 g/cm - s
N Sc    20,000
D (1 g/cm 3 )(5  10 7 cm 2 /s)
kc d
N Sh  = 0.0096NRe0.913NSc0.346 = 3060
D
N Sh D (3060)(5  10 7 )
 kc    1.02  10 3 cm/s
d 1.5
Permeate flux, jv = 40 L m2 h1 = 1.11  103 cm/s
1 R K j
 exp v
R 1 K kc

1  0.75 K 1.11  10 3
  exp  K = 0.101
0.75 1 K 1.02  10 3
If the permeate flux is 20 L m2 h1 or 0.556  103 cm/s,
1 R 0.101 0.556  10 3
 exp  R = 0.84
R 1  0.101 1.02  10 3
The maximum rejection occurs as the flux approaches zero.
 Rmax = 1  K = 0.899
#
Abatement of Concentration Polarization in Ultrafiltration

“Concentration polarization increases the osmotic pressure, hampers the

permeate flux, and adds to the severity of membrane fouling.”

 Air sparging (injecting air into the

feed stream) has been the most
popular technique proposed for the
reduction of concentration
polarization.
 The injected air induces
hydrodynamic disturbances in
the filtration module, which
destabilizes the concentration
layer over the membrane
surface.

 An alternative idea: using n-hexadecane in place of air to generate two-phase

flow.
 n-Hexadecane has a viscosity two order of magnitude higher than air (3.032 
103 Pa s at 25C compared to 1.86  105 Pa s at 27C); when the oil droplets
rub the surface of the membrane, the shear force and hence the disturbances
generated by n-hexadecane droplets could be much more effective than that
by air bubbles.

0.04 Comparison of permeate

fluxes for the conventional,
Permeate Flux (m m-2h )
-1

air/water, and
n-hexadecane/water
3

ultrafiltrations of a lipase
solution. Symbols: (○)
0.02 conventional, (▲) air/water,
and (■) n-hexadecane/water.

0.00
0 30 60 90
Time (min)
DIAFILTRATION

 Batch concentration versus diafiltration

Batch concentration: Diafiltration:

 In diafiltration, the dialyzate (or wash solvent) is added at a rate equal to

removal of ultrafiltrate.


dV C
V0

dV

For microspecies (i.e., solutes) that are freely permeable to the membrane,
Cf Vw
dC 1 C 0 Vw
d (CV0 )  CdV  C C   V0  dV
0
 ln 
C f V0
0

where V0 = volume of initial preparation added to the cell (being constant)

C0 = initial microsolute concentration in the reservoir
Cf = microsolute concentration after volume Vw of wash solution
has passed through the cell

For microspecies (i.e., solutes) that are partially permeable to the membrane,
C0 V
ln  (1  R ) w
Cf V0

where R = product retention (dimensionless).

R = 0  Complete product passage through the membrane.
R = 1  Rejected solute.
[Example] It is desired to use a crossflow filtration system to desalt 1000 liters of a
protein solution containing NaCl. The system has a membrane area of 100 m2 and is
capable of operating at a transmembrane flux of 30 L m2 h1. To remove 99.99% of
the salt, determine the time and the volume of water required.

Solution:
C 0 Vw 1 V
ln   ln  w  Vw = 9210 L
C f V0 0.0001 1000

9210 L   30 2 100 m 2   t
 L 
Vw = Jv  A  t   t = 3.07 h
 m h
#
REVERSE OSMOSIS

Adding a soluble salt to water.

 Reducing the chemical potential of the water.

 Osmotic flow.

 The osmotic pressure  of a solution:

 = 1.12(T + 273)mi
 = osmotic pressure, psi
T = temperature, C
mi = summation of molalities (mol/1000 g of water) of all ionic and
nonionic constituents in the solution
*  = 15 psi, for a typical brackish water;  = 350 psi, for seawater.

 External pressure applied for reverse osmosis to occur:

400600 psig for brackish water
8001,000 psig for seawater

 Used most extensively in the purification of water and the concentration of

biological and food processing streams.
 Performance variables of reverse osmosis:
A simple schematic of an RO system:

The rate of water passage through a semipermeable membrane is defined by:

Qw = kwA(P  )/
Qw = water flow rate through the membrane
kw = membrane permeability coefficient for water
A = membrane area
P = hydraulic pressure differential across the membrane
 = osmotic pressure differential across the membrane
 = membrane thickness

The rate of salt flow through the membrane is given by:

Qs = ksAc/
Qs = flow rate of salt through the membrane
c = salt concentration differential across the membrane
ks = membrane permeability coefficient for salt

  The rate of water flow through the membrane is proportional to the

pressure differential across the membrane.
 The rate of salt flow is proportional to the concentration differential,
and is independent of the applied pressure.
 An increase in operating pressure will increase the water flow without
changing the salt flow.
 Recovery (or conversion) is defined by: Y = 100Qp/Qf
Y = % recovery
Qp = product water flow rate
Qf = feed water flow rate

Salt passage is defined by: SP = 100cp/cf

SP = % salt passage
cp = salt concentration in the product stream
cf = salt concentration in the feed stream

 The membranes used in reverse osmosis are asymmetric.

 The thin “skin” is supported by a porous substructure.

 The rate-determining step for water transport is across the skin.

 The flow rate through a membrane is inversely proportional to the membrane
thickness.
 These membranes provide high water transport while still
maintaining the important ability to reject salts.

 Cellulose acetate membranes (discovered by Loeb and Sourirajan at UCLA in the

early 1960s) have two major limitations.
(1) They are susceptible to degradation from biological attack.
 Using chlorinated feed water to prevent such attack.
(2) They hydrolyze back to cellulose under acidic and particularly basic
conditions.
 Control the pH of the system at 4.5 to 7.5.
 Reverse osmosis devices:
(1) Tubular

* The membrane is either inserted into, or coated onto, the surface of a porous
tube designed to withstand the operating pressure.

(2) Spiral-wound

* This device is like a huge envelope made of membrane and containing a feed
spacer. Feed flowing around the envelope at high pressure goes across the
membrane and is collected inside the envelope. The envelope is wound
spirally about a plastic tube that receives the permeate.
(3) Hollow fiber

* Aramid membranes: commercialized by Du Pont in 1970, made from an

aromatic polyamide polymer, operated at pH range of 4-11, not susceptible to
biological attack and resist hydrolysis. (But, they are degraded by chlorine.)

* Pressurized water passes through the fiber wall into the fiber bore. The salts
and other impurities remain in the brine, which flows to the outer perimeter of
the fiber bundle.
 RO system design:

Remarks:
* Cartridge filter: remove large-particle matter that could damage the
high-pressure pump or cause device plugging.
* Low-pressure shutdown switch: prevent pump operation at inadequate flow
rate.
* Valve on the pump discharge: control the pressure of the feed water.
* Temperature switch: protect the permeator.
* High-pressure shutdown switch or pressure-relief device: prevent the
permeator from over-pressurization.
* Flow-control valve on the brine: set conversion.
CONCENTRATION POLARIZATION IN REVERSE OSMOSIS

 Concentration polarization has two deleterious effects:

(1) The increase in c10 increases .
Qw = kwA(P  )/
 It necessitates a greater applied total pressure to produce a given water
flux across the membrane.
(2) The increase in c10 serves to increase the driving force for salt transport
through the membrane.
Qs = ksAc/
 It engenders more salt leakage into the product water.

 When the concentration of retained solutes at the membrane surface, c10, exceeds
the solubility limit, it forms a thixotropic gel.
 It is referred to the phenomenon as “fouling” of the membrane.

[Example] A reverse osmosis process is used for desalination of seawater. The

volumetric flux of water through the membrane is 3  105 m/s (or m3 s1 m2), and
the applied feed pressure is 8.0 MPa greater than the product-water pressure. For
seawater, the osmotic pressure is 2.5 MPa. What is the water velocity through the
membrane if the polarization modulus (c10/c1) rises to 1.2-fold of the original?

Solution:
Osmotic pressure of seawater,  = 1.12(T + 273)mi
 2 (mi ) 2
   1.2  2= 1.21 = 1.2  2.5 = 3.0 MPa
 1 (mi )1
Rate of water passage through the membrane:
Qw = kwA(P  )/ or Qw/A = jv = Lp(P  )
jv 2 ( P   ) 2 8.0  3.0
   0.91
jv1 ( P   )1 8.0  2.5

 jv2 = 0.91jv1 = 0.91  (3  105) = 2.73  105 m/s

#
 Correlation of Dittus and Boelter (1930) for concentration polarization in
turbulent flow:
c10 j d 0.2 (  /  ) 0.47
 exp v h 0.8 0.67
c1 0.023v D

where jv = the volume of solvent per area per time

dh = equivalent hydraulic diameter
 = viscosity of fluid
 = density of fluid
v = average velocity of fluid
D = local solute diffusivity in solution

[Example] A reverse osmosis desalting process is carried out using turbulent flow
through a tubular 1.0-cm-diameter membrane with a system temperature of 18.5C.
Which of the following factors would be effective in reducing the degree of
concentration polarization if the water flux is held constant? (a) Reduced
temperature; (b) reduced tube diameter with the same mass flow rate of seawater; and
(c) recirculation of the seawater with the same size and length.

c10 j d 0.2 (  /  ) 0.47

Solution:  exp v h 0.8 0.67
c1 0.023v D

(a) Lower temperature increases the viscosity and lowers the diffusivity.
 Lower temperature makes concentration polarization more severe.
(b) Reducing tube diameter with the same mass flow rate of water will raise v.
 Concentration polarization will be reduced.
(c) Recirculation of the seawater will increase v.
 It alleviates concentration polarization but does so at the expense of much
more pumping power (more flow and more pressure drop).
#
Production of Low Alcohol Beer Using Reverse Osmosis

Remarks:
* Some flavor components that have a molecular weight or size similar to
ethanol also pass through the membrane.
 Some flavor losses occur.
* The membrane cost is high.
 The annual replacement cost is up to 7% of the original capital cost.
DIALYSIS

 At equilibrium, the concentration of small molecules is the same inside and

outside the membrane.
 The external fluid must be repeatedly changed to reach the required final
composition.

 Place a stirrer of some kind in the external fluid (or inside the bag).
 To increase the rate of movement.
REVERSE DIALYSIS
 The filled bag is packed in a dry, water-soluble polymer which cannot enter the
membrane.

 It is used to concentrate the material in the bag.

 Equilibrium is never reached.

 Water and salts are continuously removed until the sample is totally dry.
 Most macromolecules become irreversibly bound to the dialysis tubing.
(They are lost.)
GLASS FIBER DIALYSIS

 Semipermeable glass fibers: hollow-bore fibers whose glass walls contain pores of
controlled size

 Two ways of using hollow fibers: dialysis and concentration.

ANALYSIS OF DIALYZER

A shell-and-tube type of hollow-fiber dialyzer:

Q = flow rate, A = area of membrane, K = dialysis coefficient

For a counterflow dialyzer,

The rate of salt removed  QF (C F 1  C F 2 )  QD (C D 2  C D1 )  KAClm

( C F 1  C D 2 )  ( C F 2  C D1 )
Clm 
ln[(C F 1  C D 2 ) /(C F 2  C D1 )]

[Example] A solution of raffinose containing 100 g/L of NaCl is to be dialysed in a

shell-and-tube type of hollow-fiber dialyzer operating countercurrently. With a
dialyzer having 1000 cm2 area of membranes the dialysis coefficient for NaCl was
determined to be 0.0415 cm/min, when the feed rate was 200 cm3/min, and the flow
rate of pure water was 500 cm3/min. If 90% of the salt is to be removed, what area
of the hollow-fiber membranes will be needed, if the same flow rates for feed and
water are used?

Solution:
The rate of salt removed  Q F (C F 1  C F 2 )  Q D (C D 2  C D1 )
200(100  0.1  100)  500(C D 2  0)  C D 2  36 g/L
(C F 1  C D 2 )  (C F 2  C D1 ) (100  36)  (10  0)
Clm    29.1 g/L
ln[(C F 1  C D 2 ) /(C F 2  C D1 )] ln[(100  36) /(10  0)]
QF (C F 1  C F 2 ) 200(100  10)
A   14,905 cm 2
KClm (0.0415)( 29.1)
#
PERVAPORATION

 A separation process in which one or more components of a liquid mixture

diffuse through a selective membrane, evaporate under low pressure on the
downstream side, and are removed by a vacuum pump or a chilled condenser.

 Composite membranes are used with the dense layer in contact with the liquid and
the porous supporting layer exposed to the vapor.

 Phase change occurs in the membrane, and the heat of vaporization is supplied by
the sensible heat of the liquid conducted through the thin dense layer.
 The decrease in temperature of the liquid as it passes through the separator
lowers the rate of permeation.