Membrane Separation_3

Membrane modules 2
• It is compact unit housing membrane as barrier between the feed and permeate flow regions.
• It is fitted with inlet and outlet nozzles on both feed and permeate sides
• Size is small but has large packing density
• Packing density : membrane area per unit volume of a module

• For large feed rate

• number of modules are used in parallel

• Common type
• Plate and frame
• Spiral wound
• Hollow fibre
• tubular
Plate and frame module 3
• Consist of stack of supported membrane plates placed
maintaining space
• alternate channels exist between the support plates for
feed and permeate
• Feed flows over each membrane and permeate passes
through membrane and leaves through permeate
channel
• Cross flow reduce fouling
• Packing density is 100 to 400 m2/m3
• Used in
• Food industry, cosmetic industry Cross flow

• Disadvantages
• Low packing density
• Low efficiency
• High pressure drop
• For dead end systems high fouling
• Difficult and expensive to clean and maintain
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Spiral wound module 4
• uses flat membrane
• permeate spacer placed between two pieces of membrane
• Above membrane leaf together with feed spacer wounded spirally around central tube
• polypropylene and polyethylene net is used as feed spacer and polyester cloth used as
permeate spacer
• feed enters at one end of spiral, moves longitudinal and leave through other side

Current Trends and Future Developments on (Bio-) Membranes, 2018

Spiral wound module 5

• Permeate flow spirally through permeate passage, enters central pipe through holes on it and
leaves through one end of pipe

• Packing density is 1000 m2/m3

• fouling is high due to high packing density
• total suspended solids (TSS) must be reduced to a minimum (<5mg/L) in feed stream to
prevent plugging of membrane

• Used in UF, NF, RO applications

• protein concentration, lactose concentration, cathodic/anodic paint recovery, dye desalting and
concentration, oil separation in wastewater applications

•
Hollow fibre module 6
• Shell and tube type construction
• Bundle of large number of long, fibre (1-3.5mm wide) inserted into a pipe of suitable diameter
• Pipe acts as shell and fitted with inlet and outlet nozzle
• Feed may be supplied to either shell side or tube side

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Hollow fibre module 7
• Stable; Fibres can withstand high differential pressure
• Very high packing density 30,000 m2/m3
• Highly sensitive to fouling ; feed has to be pretreated
• Used for : RO pretreatment, Industrial water/wastewater, juice processing, and biotech
applications.

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Tubular Membranes 8
• Shell –tube structure
• ½” to 1” OD tubes are packed individually into long housing called shell
• inner tubes called membrane tube
• Used to process difficult feed streams (with high suspended solids, high molecular weight
solutes, oil, grease, or fats)
• Feed stream passes through membrane tube and filtered out into outer shell
• Concentrate collects at opposite end of membrane tube
• Low packing density
• Less fouling compared to plate and frame
• Can be physically cleaned

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Configuration of UF unit 9
• Single membrane module does not accommodate large
area
• Number of modules are used in parallel
• Required degree of separation is not achieved in single
pass
• Two configurations used
1. Recycle configuration
• part of Retentate is recycled back to inlet of module to
achieve higher concentration of Retentate

2. Tapered configuration
• Modules are arranged in parallel-series pattern

• Retentate volume decreases after liquid passes

through a module, hence lesser number of modules
are provided in successive stages
RO plant 10
• Because of concentration polarization, salt concentration (particularly of low solubility salt
such as calcium sulphate) at membrane surface during reverse osmosis may exceed saturation
level
• Saturation result in precipitation of salt on membrane surface called scaling
• causing membrane fouling and significant reduction of flux
• feed water to RO unit usually pretreated to remove suspended and dissolved fouling agent
Example 1 11

• An enzyme is concentrated in an ultrafiltration module with the feed in cross-flow. Under the
given flow condition, the mass transfer coefficient at the membrane surface is estimated to be
3 × 10-5 cm/s. The bulk concentration is 0.3 mass%. If the water flux is 0.41 m 3/m2.h, calculate
the polarization modulus and the concentration of the enzyme in the liquid at the membrane
surface.

• The membrane has a distribution of pore size and 95% rejection of the solute is achieved. If the
diffusivity of the enzyme is 8 × 10-7 cm2/s, calculate the thickness of the mass transfer ‘film’.
 12

m3 0.41 4 m
3
• Water flux, J w  0.41 2   1.139 10
m  h 3600 m2  s

• Solute Rejection, R’= 0.95.

From Eq. (14.10), the concentration polarization modulus is

  1  139  104  
 Jw  exp  
  3  10  
exp   5
Cm
  kL 
   14  02
Cb  Jw    1  139  10  
 4
R '  1  R ' exp    0  95    1  0  95  exp  
 L
k   3  10  
5
 13
• Solute Concentration at the membrane surface,

C m   14  02   C b    14  02  0  3   4  2 mass%

Thickness of the ‘mass transfer film’,

 7 cm 
2

 8 10 
D  s 
   0  0267cm
kL  5 cm 
 3  10 
 s 
Example 2 14

• A cellulose acetate membrane admits of a pure water flux of 100 litre/m2.h at a pressure
differential of 100 bar. Calculate the water and salt flux if a module fitted with this membrane is
used to desalinate a 3.5% solution of salt. The polarization modulus is M = 3.0, and the salt
rejection is R’ = 0.99. If the osmotic pressure of the solution is 18 bar, calculate the water and
salt flux at an applied pressure difference of 75 bar.

Solution

Pure water flux J w  Lp P  0.1 m 3 / m 2 . h  Lp (100 bar)

Lp  103 m 3 / m 2 . h . bar
 15
Water and salt flux for 3.5% salt solution

Concentration polarization modulus, M = Cm / C b  3.0

C m  (3.0)C b  (3.0)(3.5)  10.5%.

Salt rejection coefficient, R  0.99 ,

Salt concentration in permeate C P  (1  R ') C m  (0.01)(10.5%)  0.105%

Given,   18 bar for 3.5% solution, osmotic pressure difference between feed and permeate,

 = (Cm  C p )(18 / 3.5)  (10.5  0.105)(18 / 3.5)  53.46 bar   CRT

Water flux = JW  Lp ( P   )  (103 )(75  53.46)  0.0215 m 3 / m 2 . h

Salt flux  JW C m (1  R)  (0.0215)(105 kg/m 3 )(1  0.99)  22.6 g/m 2 . h