Contents

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................... 2

INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 3

OBJECTIVE.............................................................................................................. 4

THEORY.................................................................................................................. 5

APPARATUS............................................................................................................. 6

PROCEDURE........................................................................................................... 7

RESULTS............................................................................................................... 10

DISCUSSION......................................................................................................... 11

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 13

RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................ 13

REFERENCES........................................................................................................ 14

APPENDIX............................................................................................................. 15
ABSTRACT

The membrane separation experiment was conducted by using the Membrane Test
Unit (Model : TR14) which has been designed to demonstrate the technique of membrane
separations which has become highly popular as they provide effective separation without the
use of heating energy as in distillation processes. The main objective of this experiment was
to study a characteristics on four different types of membranes. The four types of membrane
used in this experiment were membrane 1 : AFC99 (Polyamide Film), membrane 2 :
AFC40(Polyamide Film), membrane 3 : CA 202 (Cellulose acetate) and membrane 4 :
FP100(PVDF).Membrane separation can be classified by pore sizes such as membrane 1 is
for nanofiltration(NF), membrane 2 is for ultrafiltration (UF), membrane 3 is for reverse
osmosis(RO) and membrane 4 is for microfiltration(MF). Each membrane have a different
maximum inlet pressure (bar). For membrane 1 the maximum inlet pressure is 18 bars, for
membrane 2 is 12 bars, the membrane 3 is 10 bars while the membrane 4 is 8.5 bars.
Therefore, the maximum working pressure for the system is set at 20 bars. After allowing the
system to run for 5 minutes, the sample was collected from the permeate sampling port and
the weight of permeates every 1 minute for 10 minutes were taken. The procedure was
repeated for all membranes. From the data taken, the graph of permeate weight versus time
was plotted. The graph showed that the permeate weight is increasing as the time increase.

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INTRODUCTION

In this experiment, we use the SOLTEQ Membrane Test Unit (Model : TR 14) as the
device to run this experiment. This apparatus has to be desingn to demonstrate the techinuque
of membrane separations which has become hinghly popular as they provide effective
separation without the use of the heating energy in distilation process. Heat sensitive
materials, such as fruit juices can be separated or concentrated by virtue of their molecular
weights. The unit consits of a test module supplied with four different membranes, namely
Reverse Osmosis (RO), nano filtiration (NF), and microfiltration (MF) membranes

This self-contained unit on a mobile epoxy coated steel framework, requires only
connection to a suitable electricity supply and a normal cold water supply to be fully
operational. It consists of a feed tank, a product tank, a feed pump, a pressure regulator, a
water bath, and a membrane test module. All parts in contact with the process fluid are
stainless steel, PTFE, silicone rubber or nitrile rubber.
The unit comes with a high pressure feed pump for delivering the feed to the
membrane unit at the desired flow rate and pressure. The retentate line can be either returned
to the feed tank or straight to the drain. Appropriate sensors for flow, pressure and temperature
are installed at strategic locations for process monitoring and data acquisitions.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a membrane-technology filtration method that removes many
types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it
is on one side of a selective membrane. The result is that thesolute is retained on the
pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side. To
be "selective," this membrane should not allow large molecules or ions through
the pores (holes), but should allow smaller components of the solution (such as the solvent) to
pass freely.

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 Nanofiltration describes a process of water purification that remove contaminats from
the water to produce clean, clear and pure water. Nanofiltrition is a form a reverse osmosis,
that will remove bivalent hardness, calcium, and magnesium plus sulphate but leave in most
of the single valent sodium ion.

Ultrafiltration is a separation process using membranes with pore sizes in the range of
0.1 to 0.001 micron. Typically, ultrafiltration will remove high molecular-weight substances,
colloidal materials, and organic and inorganic polymeric molecules. Low molecular-weight
organics and ions such as sodium, calcium, magnesium chloride, and sulfate are not removed.
Because only high-molecular weight species are removed, the osmotic pressure differential
across the membrane surface is negligible. Low applied pressures are therefore sufficient to
achieve high flux rates from an ultrafiltration membrane. Flux of a membrane is defined as
the amount of permeate produced per unit area of membrane surface per unit time. Generally
flux is expressed as gallons per square foot per day (GFD) or as cubic meters per square
meters per day.

Microfiltration is a membrane technical filtration process which removes contaminants

from a fluid (liquid and gas) by passage through a microporos membrane. A typical
microfiltration membrane pore size range is 0.1 to 10 micrometers (m). Microfiltration is
fundamentally diffrenent from reverse osmosis and nanofiltration because those systems use a
pressure as a meaans of forcing water to go from low pressure to high
pressure.Microfiltration can use a pressurized system but it does not need to include pressure.

OBJECTIVE

To study the characteristics of 4 different types of membrane silicon in terms of separation

process.

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THEORY

A membrane is a selective barrier that permits the separation of certain species in a

fluid by combination of sieving and sorption diffusion mechanism. Separation is achieved
by selectively passing one or more components of a stream through the membrane
while retarding the passage of one or more other components.

Membrane processes are characterized by the fact that a feed stream is divided into 2
streams: retentate and permeate. The retentate is that part of the feed that does not pass
through the membrane while the permeate is that part of the feed that does pass through the
membrane. The optional "sweep" is a gas or liquid that is used to help remove the permeate.
The component of interest in membrane separation is known as the solute. The solute can
be retained on the membrane and removed in the retentate or passed through the membrane in
the permeate.

Some advantages of membrane separation are less energy-intensive since they do not
require major phase changes, do not demand adsorbents or solvents which may be expensive
or difficult to handle and the equipment simplicity and modularity which facilitates the
incorporation of more efficient membranes. The particular advantage of membrane separation
processes is that it operate without heating and thus are energetically usually lower than
conventional thermal separation processes. This separation process is purely physical and due
to its gentle separation, the use of both fractions (permeate and retentate) is possible.

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APPARATUS

1) Membrane Test Unit (Model TR14)

2) Digital Weighing Balance

3) Stopwatch

4) Beaker

MATERIAL

1) Sodium chloride.

2) Water.

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PROCEDURE

General start-up procedures

1. Ensure all valves are initially closed.

2. Prepare a sodium chloride solution by adding 100 gram of sodium chloride into 20 litre of
water.

3. Fill up the tank with the salt solution prepared in Step 2. The feed shall always be
maintained at room temperature.

4. Turn on the power for the control panel. Check that all sensors and indicators are
functioning properly.

5. Switch on the thermostat and make sure that the thermo oil is above the coil inside
thermostat. Check that the thermostat connections are properly fitted.

6. The unit is now ready for experiments.

General shut-down procedures

1. Switch off the plunger pump (P2).

2. Close valve V2.

3. Drain all liquid in the feed tank and product tank by opening valves V3 and V4.

4. Flush all the piping with clean water. Close V3 and V4, fill the clean water to feed tank
until 90% full.

5. Run the system with the clean water until the feed tank is nearly empty.

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Procedures

1) The general start-up procedures were performed.

2) The experiment was started for membrane 1. Valves V2, V5, V7, V11 and V15 were
opened.

3) The maximum working pressures was set to 20bars, by switching on the plunger pump
(P1) and slowly valve V5 was closed. The pressure value at pressure gauge was observed
and the pressure regulator was adjusted to 20bars.

Warning : Make sure valve V2 is opened.

4) Valve V5 was opened. Then, the maximum inlet pressure was set to 18bars for membrane
1 by adjusting the retentate control valve (V15).

5) The system was allowed to run for 5minutes. The sample from permeate sampling port
were collected and the sample was weighing using digital weighing balance. The weight
of permeates were recorded every 1 minute for 10 minutes.

Note : Valve V19 was opened and simultaneously valve V11 was closed to collect sample.

6) Step 1 to 5 were repeated for membrane 2, 3 and 4. The respective sets of valves were
opened and closed and the membrane maximum inlet pressure was adjusted for every
membrane.

7) The graph of permeate weight versus time was plotted.

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 Membrane Open valves Sampling Retentate Membrane
(step 2) valves control valve maximum inlet
pressure (bar)
1 V2, V5, V7, Open V19 and V15 18
V11 and V15 close V11

2 V2, V5, V8, Open V20 and V16 12

V12 and V16 close V12

3 V2, V5, V9, Open V21 and V17 10

V13 and V17 close V13

4 V2, V5, V10, Open V22 and V18 8.5

V14 and V18 close V14

RESULTS

Time (min) Weight of permeates (g)

Membrane 1 Membrane 2 Membrane 3 Membrane 4

1 23.57 57.30 19.76 235.75

2 37.09 87.01 35.41 419.87

3 51.28 151.78 47.48 605.76

4 65.09 202.01 49.49 804.24

5 78.92 245.51 56.17 1010.31

6 92.59 293.89 62.66 1214.99

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 7 106.64 340.84 71.46 1417.56

8 120.72 388.82 73.89 1619.09

9 134.96 436.02 92.69 1820.73

10 149.14 482.83 95.42 2035.70

3000

2500

2000

1500 Membrane 4 Membrane 3 Membrane 2 Membrane 1

1000

500

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GR
APH OF PERMEATE WEIGHT VS TIME

DISCUSSION

This experiment, approximately about 100mL sodium chloride has been used as the
reagent (feed). The membrane has been set to a certain maximum pressure inlet for a safety
regulation so as not to exceed the maximum operation pressure of the membrane. Then, the
sample from permeate was collected for 10 minutes. In each 1 minute interval, the weight of

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permeate was recorded. After the 10 minutes past, these steps were carried out again for the
others membranes unit. All the data got from this experiment was tabulated in the table in
result section. From the result, it shows the increasing in weight of permeate with time (as
time increase, weight of permeate increase) for all four membranes. Permeate is actually a
part of the feed stream that passed through the membrane, while a part of the feed that did not
pass through the membrane is called the retentate. In the graph plotted, it shows that there are
different permeation rate for each of membrane, with membrane IV has the highest
permeation rate followed by membrane II, I and lastly III. Thus, permeates moves faster
through membrane IV and slower in membrane III. The high permeation rate of membrane 4
is most probably due to its hydrophobic property, whereas the low permeation rate of
membrane 3 is most probably due to its hydrophilic property. The membrane separates a wide
range of particle sizes ranging from mono ions to macromolecules.

In this experiment, the result get may be not 100% accurate although it follows the
theory. The error could be due to the lack of attention in doing the experiment, such as not
alert in taking the record in 1 minutes interval and not accurate in adjusting the maximum
inlet pressure. This experiments can be improve by followed the recommendations suggested
at recommendation sections.

Membrane Material Max Max Max Apparent Hydro Solvent

type pH pressure Temperature Retention Philicity Resistance
Range (bar) ( character

AFC99 Polyamide 1.5-12 64 80 99% NaCl 3 ++

Film

AFC40 Polyamide 1.5-9.5 60 60 60% Ca 4 ++

Film
Cl2

CA202 Cellulose 2-7.25 25 30 2000 MW 5 +

Acetate

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 FP100 PVDF 1.5-12 10 80 100,000MW 1 +++

CONCLUSION

As the conclusions, it can be said that the increase and decrease in the membrane were
almost similar to each other. Even though it was kind of hard to be detected, however, if the
graph were properly analyzed, the curves for each and one of the membranes were almost the
same. However, the only things that distinguish these curves were the value plotted in each
curve. It can be seen based on the graph plotted; the value plotted for the first membrane was
the smallest. The value of the weight collected for each membrane increases along with the
membranes used. It can be seen that the forth membrane carried the largest value of weight of
the collected. This shows that every membrane will give out the same pattern at the outlet
however, only the values of the weight were different from each other. Therefore, this shows
that the separation process was the fastest in the forth membrane and the first membrane was
the slowest.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1) Repeat the experiment 2 or 3 times for each membrane in order to calculate the
average reading.

2) The digital weighing balance should not be put near the pump as it is moving while
taking reading. Thus error could be happen.

3) You must be alert with time during taking the sample.

4) While taking the weight of the permeate by using the digital weighting balance, the
value will increase rapidly so to make sure that the accurate values can be taken, two

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 or more students are needed to record the result or take a picture if possible so that the
average value among them can be recorded as a result.

REFERENCES

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membrane_technology

2) http://vedyadhara.ignou.ac.in/wiki/images/6/63/Unit_11_Membrane.DOC_1.pdf

3) http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/disinfection/lt2/pdfs/guide_lt2_membranefiltration_final.p
df

4) Zeman, Leos J., Zydney & Andrew L., (1996). Microfiltration and Ultrafitration,
Principles and Applications, New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

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APPENDIX

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