Instructor’s Notes: This problem is similar to Example 12-2.

The solution is worked

out for Problem B and the answers for the remaining problems are included in a table at
the end of the solution.

Solution
1. Calculate removal using Eq. 12-3:
Cp 136 mL−1
R =−
1 =−
1 =0.999801
Cf 6.85 × 105 mL−1
2. Calculate the log removal value using Eq. 12-4:
 Cf   6.85 × 105 mL−1 
= =
LRV log   log  = −1  3.70
 Cp   136 mL 
Answers to all problems:
A B C D E
Rejection 0.99999 0.999801 0.99999977 0.99999606 0.9999657
Log rejection value 5.00 3.70 6.65 5.40 4.46

PROBLEM 12-5
Problem Statement - An inside-out hollow-fiber membrane system is operated with a
cross-flow configuration. Each module contains 10,200 fibers that have an inside
diameter of 0.9 mm and a length of 1.75 m. Calculate the following for one module:
a. Feed flow necessary to achieve a cross-flow velocity of 1 m/s at the entrance to
the module.
b. Permeate flow rate if the system maintains an average permeate flux of 80
L/m2 · h.
c. Cross-flow velocity at the exit to the module.
d. Ratio of the cross-flow velocity at the entrance of the module to the flow velocity
toward the membrane surface. Given the magnitude of this ratio, what effect would
you expect cross-flow velocity to have on fouling in cross-flow versus dead-end
filtration?

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Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 A B C D E

Flow (mL/min) 4.47 4.22 2.87 6.05 1.22

Temperature (°C) 16 22 23 25 22

Pressure (bar) 0.67 0.80 0.71 1.25 0.21

For the data set selected by your professor,

a. Calculate the specific flux at 20º C.

b. Calculate the membrane resistance coefficient.

c. Does membrane resistance coefficient depend on the pressure and temperature

used for the tests? Why or why not?

Solution
1. Calculate the flux at a standard temperature of 20°C using Eq. 12-8. Since flow =
4.47 mL/min or 0.268 L/h, J=Q/α or 115 L/m2•h:
Q 4.47 mL/min ( 60 min/h ) (L/1000 mL)
J= = =115.1 L/m2 ×h
A 23.3 cm2 (1 × 10 −4 )
(T )
(115.1 L/m h) (1.03 )( ) 20 C −16 C
M (1.03 )
−T
=JS J= S M
=
2
129.6 L/m2 h

2. Calculate the specific flux using Eq. 12-9.

JSP,20=
JS
=
(129.6 L/m =
h)
2

193.4 L/m2 hbar


C
∆P 0.67 bar
3. Rearrange Eq. 12-6 to solve for the membrane resistance coefficient. The
viscosity of water at 20 °C is 1.00 x 10-3 kg/m·s (see Appendix C-1). Recall that 1
bar = 100 kPa = 105 N/m2 = 105 kg/s2·m.

∆P (1 bar ) (105 )
kg/s2 mbar ( 3,600 s/h ) 103 L/m3 ( )=
κM= = 1.89 × 1012 m-1
µJ (1.00 × 10 -3
)(
kg/ms 193.4 L/m h 2
)
4. The membrane resistance coefficient can be calculated using either the actual flow
and pressure (115.1 L/m2·h at 16 °C and 0.67 bar) or the standard flow and
pressure (193.4 L/m2·h at 20 °C and 1 bar) and the results are the same (within the

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Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 accuracy of the temperature correction formula). Thus, the membrane resistance
coefficient is independent of pressure and temperature.

Answers to all problems:

A B C D E
Measured flux L/m2∙h 115.1 108.7 73.9 155.8 31.4
Flux correction Eq. 12-8 L/m2∙h 129.6 102.4 67.6 134.4 29.6
Specific flux at std temp L/m2∙h∙bar 193.4 128.0 95.3 107.5 141.0

Flux correction Eq. 12-7 L/m2∙h 127.4 103.6 68.8 138.5 29.9
Specific flux at std temp L/m2∙h∙bar 190.2 129.4 96.9 110.8 142.6

Membrane resist. coeff.

m-1 1.89E+12 2.78E+12 3.71E+12 3.24E+12 2.52E+12
w/ Eq. 12-6

Membrane resist. coeff.

m-1 1.89E+12 2.78E+12 3.71E+12 3.24E+12 2.52E+12
w/ spec flux

PROBLEM 12-7
Problem Statement - The 0.2-µm polyethersulfone microfiltration membrane shown on
Fig. 12-3 was tested in the laboratory and found to have a clean-water flux of 6500
L/m2 · h at 23º C and 0.69 bar. Assume that the flow through a microfiltration
membrane can be modeled using the Kozeny equation for flow through porous
media (Eq. 11-11 in Chap. 11).
a. Calculate the specific surface area of the membrane assuming a porosity of 0.6,
thickness of 0.10 mm, and Kozeny coefficient of 5.0.
b. What would the theoretical grain diameter be if the membrane were composed of
spherical granular media with the same specific surface area (see Eq. 11-6)?
c. How does the theoretical grain diameter compare to the retention rating for the
membrane? Using concepts of particle retention through granular media from
Chap. 11, what does this comparison suggest about the mechanisms for particle
removal in microfiltration?
d. Using the theoretical grain diameter as the characteristic dimension, calculate the
Reynolds number for flow through a microfiltration membrane. Is the flow laminar
or turbulent?

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MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles and Design, 3rd ed. Version 1
Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 1. Calculate the Reynolds number.

=
ρvd
Re =
( 997.5 kg/m )(1.805 × 10
3 −3
)(
m/s 5.70 × 10 −7 m )
= 1.10 × 10 −3
−4
µ 9.326 × 10 kg/ms
2. A Reynolds number of 1.10 x 10-3 in porous media corresponds to laminar flow.
Laminar flow means that the head loss through the media varies linearly with flow
velocity, which is commonly observed for membrane filters (if flow were turbulent,
head loss would vary by the square of the velocity). In addition, the Kozeny
equation (which applies to laminar flow) would be an appropriate way to calculate
flow through porous media, assuming the parameters in the equation could be
measured with some degree of accuracy.

PROBLEM 12-8

Instructors Note: The solution of this problem is similar to Example 12-4.

Problem Statement - A membrane plant is operated at a volumetric flux of 75 L/m2 · h

at 17º C and 0.85 bar. Calculate the specific flux at 20º C.
Solution
1. Calculate the flux at a standard temperature of 20 °C using Eq. 12-8.

M (1.03 )
(T )
( 75 L/m h) (1.03 )( )
−T 20 C −17 C
=JS J= S M 2
= 82 L/m2 h

2. Calculate the specific flux using Eq. 12-9.

JSP,20=
JS
=
( 82 L/m =
h)
2

96 L/m2 hbar

C
∆P 0.85 bar

PROBLEM 12-9

Problem Statement – Feed water pressure and temperature and permeate flux at a
membrane filtration plant are reported on two dates below. For the plant selected by
your instructor, calculate the specific flux on each date, and indicate whether fouling has
occurred between the first and second dates.
A B C D E
Day 1

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MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles and Design, 3rd ed. Version 1
Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 ∆P = Jµ ( κM + κC )
= (1.39 × 10 −5
)( )(
m/s 1.14 × 10 −3 kg/ms 1.75 × 1012 + 3.90 × 1011 m-1 )
= 3.40 × 10 4 kg/ms2
= 0.34 bar

PROBLEM 12-14
Instructor’s Notes: The solution is worked out for Problem A and the answers for the
remaining problems are shown at the end of the solution.

Problem Statement - Calculate the membrane fouling index for the following data, for
the data set specified by your instructor.
A. Experimental flat-sheet laboratory filter, membrane area = 30 cm2, initial flux = 3,560
L/m2·h·bar, test pressure = 0.69 bar, test temperature = 23.9 °C.
Permeate Permeate
Time, Volume, Time, Volume,
min mL min mL
0 0 6 458.3
1 108.8 7 506.8
2 199.8 8 552.1
3 277.4 9 594.1
4 345.0 10 634.1
5 404.2 11 670.8

B. Full scale plant operating at constant permeate flow of 15,000 m3/day, temperature
= 20 °C, 5800 m2 of membrane area, pressure each day as shown below. Use Day
0 as the initial flux.
Transmemb. Transmemb. Transmemb.
Time, Pressure, Time, Pressure, Time, Pressure,
Day Bar Day Bar Day Bar
0 0.704
2 0.712 12 0.747 22 0.786
4 0.721 14 0.754 24 0.794
6 0.726 16 0.765 26 0.801
8 0.735 18 0.770 28 0.812

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Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 10 0.740 20 0.777 30 0.812

C. Data from a 30-minute filter run in the middle of a day of laboratory testing of
coagulated feed water, membrane area = 23 cm2, initial flux = 238 L/m2·h·bar, test
pressure = 2.07 bar, test temperature = 21.5 °C.
Permeate Permeate Permeate
Time, Volume, Time, Volume, Time, Volume,
min mL min mL min mL
0 2276.64
2 2292.62 12 2370.17 22 2444.76
4 2308.41 14 2385.31 24 2459.35
6 2324.05 16 2400.33 26 2473.88
8 2339.53 18 2415.24 28 2488.26
10 2354.92 20 2430.04

Solution for Problem A

1. Divide the volume filtered by the membrane area to determine the specific
throughput. Results are in the third column in table below. For the third row,

(199.8 mL ) (104
cm 2 /m 2 )
Vsp = 66.6 L/m 2
( 30.0 cm )(10 mL/L )
2 3

2. Calculate the volume filtered in each time increment by subtracting the previous
volume. Results are in the fourth column in the table. For the third row:
=
∆V 199.8 mL − 108.8
= mL 91 mL
3. Divide the volume filtered in each increment by membrane area and time to
determine flux. Then correct for temperature and pressure using Eqs. 12-8 and 12-9
to determine specific flux. Results are in the fifth column in the table. For the third
row,

( 91 mL ) (104 cm 2 /m 2 ) ( 60 min/h )
Jm = 1820 L/m 2 h
( 30 cm2 ) (1 min ) (103 mL/L )
J m (1.03) s m 1820 L/m 2 h (1.03)
T −T 20 − 23.9

=J sp = = 2350.5 L/m 2 h bar

∆P 0.69 bar

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MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles and Design, 3rd ed. Version 1
Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 4. Divide the specific flux (Jsp) by the initial specific flux (Jsp0). Results are in the sixth
column in the table. For the third row:
2350.5
=J sp' = 0.66
3560
5. Invert the normalized flux from column 6. Results are in the seventh column.

6. The results of the above calculations are shown in the table below for all rows of
data.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(6) (7)
Normalized Inverse normalized
Filtration Volume Specific Delta Specific specific flux,
specific flux,
time, filtered, throughput, volume, flux, '
min mL L/m2 mL L/m2·h J sp 1/ J sp'
0 0
1 108.80 36.3 108.80 2810.2 0.79 1.27
2 199.80 66.6 91.00 2350.5 0.66 1.51
3 277.40 92.5 77.60 2004.4 0.56 1.78
4 345.00 115.0 67.60 1746.1 0.49 2.04
5 404.20 134.7 59.20 1529.1 0.43 2.33
6 458.30 152.8 54.10 1397.4 0.39 2.55
7 506.80 168.9 48.50 1252.7 0.35 2.84
8 552.10 184.0 45.30 1170.1 0.33 3.04
9 594.10 198.0 42.00 1084.8 0.30 3.28
10 634.10 211.4 40.00 1033.2 0.29 3.45
11 670.80 223.6 36.70 947.9 0.27 3.76

7. Plot the inverse of the normalized specific flux (1/ J ´sp) as a function of the specific
throughput (Vsp), as shown in the following figure:

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MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles and Design, 3rd ed. Version 1
Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 4.00

3.50

3.00

y = 0.013x + 0.607
2.50 R² = 0.987
1/Jsp

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250
Specific throughput (L/m2)

The slope of the line is the membrane fouling index for the filter run is 0.013 L/m2 = 13
m-1.

Solution for Problem B

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Normalized Inverse normalized
Filtration Specific Delta Specific specific flux,
specific flux,
time, TMP, throughput, volume, flux, '
d bar L/m2 m3 L/m2·h J sp 1/ J sp'
0 0.704 0 30,000 153.1
2 0.712 5172.4 30,000 151.3 0.99 1.011
4 0.721 10344.8 30,000 149.5 0.98 1.024
6 0.726 15517.2 30,000 148.4 0.97 1.031
8 0.735 20689.7 30,000 146.6 0.96 1.044
10 0.740 25862.1 30,000 145.6 0.95 1.051
12 0.747 31034.5 30,000 144.3 0.94 1.061
14 0.754 36206.9 30,000 142.9 0.93 1.071

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Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration
 16 0.765 41379.3 30,000 140.9 0.92 1.087
18 0.770 46551.7 30,000 139.9 0.91 1.094
20 0.777 51724.1 30,000 138.7 0.91 1.104
22 0.786 56896.6 30,000 137.0 0.90 1.117
24 0.794 62069.0 30,000 135.7 0.89 1.128
26 0.801 67241.4 30,000 134.5 0.88 1.138
28 0.812 72413.8 30,000 132.7 0.87 1.153
30 0.815 77586.2 30,000 132.2 0.86 1.158

1.18

1.16

1.14

1.12

1.10 y = 2.05E-06x + 1.00E+00

1/Jsp

R² = 9.98E-01
1.08

1.06

1.04

1.02

1.00
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000
Specific throughput (L/m2)

The slope of the line is the membrane fouling index is 2.05 × 10-6 L/m2 = 2.05 × 10-3 m-1.

Solution for Problem c

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(6) (7)
Normalized Inverse normalized
Filtration Volume Specific Delta Specific specific flux,
specific flux,
time, filtered, throughput, volume, flux, '
d mL L/m 2
m 3 2
L/m ·h J sp 1/ J sp'

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0 2276.64
2 2292.62 996.8 15.98 96.3 0.40 2.47
4 2308.41 1003.7 15.79 95.2 0.40 2.50
6 2324.05 1010.5 15.64 94.3 0.40 2.52
8 2339.53 1017.2 15.48 93.3 0.39 2.55
10 2354.92 1023.9 15.39 92.8 0.39 2.57
12 2370.17 1030.5 15.25 91.9 0.39 2.59
14 2385.31 1037.1 15.14 91.3 0.38 2.61
16 2400.33 1043.6 15.02 90.5 0.38 2.63
18 2415.24 1050.1 14.91 89.9 0.38 2.65
20 2430.04 1056.5 14.80 89.2 0.37 2.67
22 2444.76 1062.9 14.72 88.7 0.37 2.68
24 2459.35 1069.3 14.59 87.9 0.37 2.71
26 2473.88 1075.6 14.53 87.6 0.37 2.72
28 2488.26 1081.9 14.38 86.7 0.36 2.75

The slope of the line is the membrane fouling index is 3.102 × 10-3 L/m2 = 3.102 m-1.

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MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles and Design, 3rd ed. Version 1
Chapter 12 - Membrane Filtration