LECTURE #2A – INTRODUCTION TO

MICRO & ULTRAFILTRATION

SEPR3003
MARIAN WATSON

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CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Microfiltration (MF) vs Ultrafiltration (UF)
 Terminology
 MF & UF Separations
 MF & UF Membranes

 Industrial Applications
 Membrane Materials
 Module types
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INTRODUCTION – MF vs UF
 Pressure driven processes where the solvent flows through a
porous membrane to remove micron sized particles

 Both membranes are commonly asymmetric

 MF removes larger sized particles (0.01 to 10m) than UF

(0.001 -0.1m) but overlap exists, not very distinct

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INTRODUCTION – MF vs UF

Separation
of milk

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INTRODUCTION - Terminology
 Feed - mixture of solvent and molecules of various sizes
 Solvent and small solute molecules pass through the
membrane and are collected as permeate
 Larger solutes that cannot pass are recovered in a
concentrated solution as retentate or concentrate
Feed
Retentate
or
Concentrate

5 Permeate
INTRODUCTION - MF & UF Separations
 Molecules separated by MF include:
 Bacteria and other micro-organisms
 Paint pigment
 Yeast cells and cells from fermentation broths
 Particles in beer pasteurization
UF & MF membranes too
porous for desalination

 Molecules rejected by UF membranes:

 Proteins
 Polymers
 Starches
 Colloidal dispersions of clays, latex particles, micro-organisms
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INTRODUCTION – MF Membranes
 MF membrane life measured in hrs. Life depends on feed conc.
 Disposable cartridges often used
 Used as a pretreatment step to extend life on UF membranes

INTRODUCTION – UF Membranes
 UF can be used to fractionate proteins according to their MW

 Membranes rated with a MW ‘cut off’ (90% of substances with

MW > MWCO are rejected/blocked by membrane)

 RoT: MW must differ by factor of 10 for good separation

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INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS - MF
 Sterile filtration of pharmaceuticals e.g. to produce
injectable drug solutions (aim to remove bacteria, 0.22m)
 Sterilization of wine and beer
 Aim to remove yeast cells and bacteria

 Less stringent than pharmaceuticals

 Electronics Industry - to produce ultrapure water which is

in turn used to fabricate electronic devices (0.1m)
 Oilfield: recovery of oil from produced water

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INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS - UF
 Concentration of latex particles in electrocoat paint
 Food industry:
 Recovery of whey proteins in cheese manufacture

 Fractionation and separation of proteins

 Clarification of fruit juices

 Removal of bacteria and particulates in wine, beer

 Processing of blood to produce plasma for use in ERs

 Separation of oil and water emulsions
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INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS - UF
 Too expensive for industrial scale water treatment

 Used to treat small, concentrated waste streams from point

sources before discharge to sewer

 Also used to recover valuable solutes or molecules

valuable enough to offset cost of UF system

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MEMBRANE MATERIALS
 MF & UF membranes are commonly made of:
 Aromatic polyamides
 Cellulose acetate
 Cellulose nitrate
 Polycarbonate
 Polyimides
 Polysulphone

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 MEMBRANE MODULES
 Plate and frame modules - flat sheet membranes – offer
greatest versatility (membranes easily cleaned & replaced)
but most expensive, moderately resistant to fouling
 Tubular type modules – most resistant to fouling, more
easily cleaned but relatively expensive
 Spiral wound modules – more prone to fouling than tubular
#1 modules but more resistant than hollow fibre. Most cost
effective per unit membrane area

#2 Hollow fibre modules – least resistant to fouling of all
module types, highest membrane area per unit volume of all

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