MEMBRANE SEPARATION PROCESSES

Fundamentals of Membrane Process

Membrane: The layer of
material that acts as a selective
barrier between two phases
and remains impermeable to
specific substance when a
driving force is applied.
Membrane Separation Process
principle: membrane acts as a
selective filter under a driving
force such as hydrostatic
pressure/
concentration
gradient, etc.

ADVANTAGES
Low energy alternative
to evaporation.
Chemical and
mechanical stresses on
the product are
minimal.
No phase change
involved(except in
pervaporation), hence
modest energy
requirement.

Product concentration
and purification in a
single step
Selectivity is good.
Method can be easily
scaled up.
In bioprocess industry:
used in the recovery of
extracellular products
(proteins, enzymes) and
biomass from
fermentation broths

CLASSIFICATION OF MEMBRANE
SEPARATION PROCESSES

(on the basis of the driving force)

I.

Driving force:
hydrostatic pressure

II. Driving force:

concentration
gradient
III. Driving force: Applied
electric field

Microfiltration (MF)
Ultrafiltration (UF)
Reverse osmosis (RO) or
Hyperfiltration
Dialysis
Electrodialysis

CLASSIFICATION OF MEMBRANE
SEPARATION PROCESSES

Micro filtration(MF)

Ultrafiltration(UF)

Reverse osmosis(RO)

Dialysis

PERVAPORATION
Change of phase
Azeotropic mixture
An inert carrier or
vacuum is provided
on other side of
membrane
Due to difference in
solubility and
diffusion.

Characteristics of Membrane Separation

Processes
PROCESS

DRIVING FORCE

CHARACTERISTIC
SEPARATION
FEATURES OF
MECHANISM
MEMEBRANE PORE
SIZE

MF

Pressure 0.1-1 bar

0.02-10 micrometre Sieving/filtering

UF

Pressure 2-10 bar

0.001-0.02
micrometre

Sieving/filtering

RO

Pressure 10-100
bar

Non porous

Solution diffusion

Dialysis

Concentration
difference

1-3 nm

Sieving and
diffusion

Electrodialysis

Electrical potential

Mol. Wt < 200

Ion migration

THEORETICAL MODELS FOR

MEMBRANE PROCESSES
CAPILLARY FLOW MODEL:
Membrane is loose and
microporous , capable of
retaining particles larger
than 10 A.
The flow of the feed
occurs through the pores
by convective flow
The solvent moves as
viscous flow
The solute molecules
/smaller particles carried
by convection with the
solvent.
Dominates in MF and UF

THEORETICAL MODELS FOR

MEMBRANE PROCESSES
SOLUTION DIFFUSION MODEL
The dissolution of the
molecular species being
transported in the material
of the membrane followed
by molecular diffusion.
Driving force- concentration
gradient in the membrane
set up by applied pressure
difference.
Obeys Ficks diffusion law.
Membrane is tight and
capable of retaining solutes
less or about 10 Angstrom.

Dominates in RO

RETENTION COEFFICIENT
It explains the separating ability of membrane in MF,UF and RO.

R = Cm - Cp
Cm
R is the theoretical retention coefficient and Cm and Cp represent the
concentrations of the solute at the membrane surface and in the permeate
respectively
Actual retention coefficient R is

R = C Cp
b

Cb
Where Cb is the concentration in the bulk

R= 1- ( 1 - R)(Cm / Cb)
Due to Concentration polarization at the membrane surface Cm/Cb>1
and R< R.
Concentration polarization increases solute leakage in RO while build up
of solute particles on the membrane surface in MF and UF.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE SEPARATION

PROCESSES
CONCENTRATION POLARISATION

FACTORS AFFECTING THE SEPARATION

PROCESSES
CONCENTRATION POLARISATION

Short term and reversible.

It occurs when the non permeating particles have Cm> Cb, the concentration
polarisation is set up at membrane surface.
Increases osmotic pressure and reduces flux.
From the mass balance of the solute:
Rate of convection towards the membrane= rate of diffusion back into the
bulk liquid+ rate of permeation
Js C = D dC/dx + Js Cp
Concentration of solute in the membrane is given by
Js=k ln((Cm-Cp)/(Cb-Cp))
k=mass transfer coefficient
Js=flux
k depends on Diffusivity, mol.wt, viscosity and the thickness of boundary
layer.

FOULING
The flux through the membrane decreases slowly with time
in all the membrane processes due to fouling caused by e.g.
Slime formation
Microbial growth
Deposition of macro molecules (particularly in UF)
Colloidal deposition and physical compaction in membrane
(particularly in RO due to high pressure operation)
Fouling is long term and irreversible.
Inhibited by careful selection of membrane material(hydrophilic
surface is less prone to fouling by proteins)
Pretreatment of feed (such as pH adjustment or precipitation to
remove salt)
Frequent cleaning with chemicals and backwashing

2 types membrane fouling

Surface (temporary) fouling
Foulant appears an evenly deposited layer on the membrane surface
Can be easily removed by cleaning solution
Permeation rate of membrane can be regenerated by cleaning
Most common type of fouling in UF plant
Most studies dealt with this type of fouling

Pore (permanent) fouling

Particulate matter diffuses into the membrane
Could be caused by the poor quality of the cleaning water
Flux cannot be regenerated by cleaning
Determines the lifetime of the membrane
Received much less attention in literature

Cross flow filtration overcomes both concentration polarization and

fouling.

Cross flow membrane filtration

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENT OF
MEMBRANES
1) Selectivity and high separation efficiency
2) High permeate flux rate
3) Mechanical/physical strength to withstand high
pressure upto 50-60atm.
4) Durability and consistency of performance over
prolonged periods
5) Resistance to corrosion
6) Ease of fabrication in appropriate shape
7) Low cost and readily available

STRUCTURE OF MEMBRANES
Semipermeable membrane used in RO and UF
have generally two phases.
Top layer: thin(0.5-10um) dense layer,
microporous structure;responsible for basic
separation characteristics
Bottom layer: thick(50-125um) macroporous
material;gives strength to the membrane
Both casted in a single membrane of
0.1 -0.2mm thickness.

PREPARATION OF MEMBRANES
Step I:base material is dissolved in solvent with
additives- give homogeneous solution.
Step II: a film is casted by spreading solution over a
glass plate or hollow tube.
Step III: controlled atmosphere maintained for
evaporation of solvent.
Step IV: membrane dipped in water bath(273281K), solvent and additives leachout, thus
forming micropores.
Step V: membrane is annealed at 340-360K to
cause pore shrinkage.

EQUIPMENT
Components of a typical membrane separation plant

Membrane Modules

Spiral wound: Flexible permeate spacer between 2 flat membrane

sheets
Hollow fibre: inside out / outside in flow
Tubular : either single or in a bundle, inside outside
Plates and frame: Series of flat membrane sheets and support plates

Membrane Modules

Comparison of Membrane Modules

Type of Membrane

Schematic diagrams of types of membranes

Applications of Membrane Separation

Processes
SPECIES

MOLECULAR
WEIGHT

SIZE(nm)

TECHNIQUE

Inorganic salts

10 - 100

0.1 -0.2

RO

Simple organic
substances(acids ,
sugars)

100 - 500

0.4 -1.0

RO

Antibiotics

400 - 1000

0.8 -1.2

RO

Biopolymers
(proteins, enzymes,
polysaccharides)

10^4 - 10^6

2 10

UF + D

virus

30 300

UF + D

Colloids

100 1000

UF + MF + D

Bacterial cells

300 10^4

UF + MF + D

Yeast and fungi

10^3 10^4

MF

CASE STUDIES

Separation of protein from

suspended particles using
submerged membrane filtration:
The main purpose of this study is
to understand how to enhance the
filtration flux and protein recovery in
submerged membrane filtration by
using hydrodynamic methods.
PMMA particles and BSA were
selected as the sample cells and
proteins
The filtration flux and BSA production
in the SPI operation was much higher
than in the other techniques,
especially when SPI was combined
with a periodic backwash.
Refrence: Journal of Membrane
Science, Volume 362, Issues 1-2, 15
October 2010, Pages 427-433
Kuo-Jen Hwang, Hung-Pin Lo, TungWen Cheng, Kuo-Lun Tung

Separation of ethanol from ethanol

water mixture and fermented sweet
sorghum juice using pervaporation
membrane reactor :
Pervaporation, an effective and
economical membrane technology, has
been proven to substitute distillation
process for ethanol separation. In this
work, the separation of two types of
mixtures; ethanolwater mixture and
fermented sweet sorghum were
investigated using cellulose acetate
membranes. The pervaporation
performances of the two mixtures were
carried out under various operating
conditions such as ethanol concentrations,
operating times and temperatures
Ethanol flux is affected to a greater extent
than water in the fermentation broth
Refrence: Desalination, Volume 271, Issues
1-3, 15 April 2011, Pages 88-91
P. Kaewkannetra, N. Chutinate, S.
Moonamart, T. Kamsan, T.Y. Chiu

 Removal of char particles from fast pyrolysis bio-oil by

microfiltration:
Microscopic and ash content analysis of the feed and permeate
streams were conducted to determine the efficacy of the
process. The results demonstrated the removal of the major
quantity of char particles with a significant reduction in overall
ash content of the bio-oil.
Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 363, Issues 1-2, 1 November
2010, Pages 120-127
Asad Javaid, Tatiana Ryan, Gayla Berg, Xiaoming Pan, Tushar
Vispute, Surita R. Bhatia, George W. Huber, David M. Ford

Glossary
Feed
The solution to be concentrated or fractionated
Flux
The rate of extraction of permeate measured in litres per square
meter of membrane surface per hour (L/m2/h)
Membrane fouling
Deposition of solids on the membrane, irreversible during
processing
Permeate
The filtrate, the liquid passing through the membrane
Retentate
The concentrate, the retained liquid
Transmembrane pressure
Pressure gradient between the upstream (retentate side) and downstream
(permeate side)