Abstract
In case of treating blood, the filtrate flux of a plasma separator decreases with time and is several orders of magnitude lower than that of pure water and plasma. This phenomenon is explained by the enhanced filtration resistance resulted from formation of red blood cell polarization layer, accumulation of RBCs on the membrane and further pore blocking with RBCs. Since the filtrate flux depends on blood-side flow rate, the plasma separation model concerns the red blood cell polarization layer alone. The authors proposed a new model for estimating of the filtrate flux of a plasma separator by considering the variation of diffusion coefficient of RBCs in the blood with hematocrit and pore blocking with RBCs. Constant-pressure filtration experiments with the suspension of washed RBCs were done to clarify the new plasma separation model. In conclusion, the model we have proposed fully accounts for hematocrit dependence of the filtrate flux of a plasma separator at varying hematocrits ranging from 0.5 to 80%.
