Characteristics of Cross-Flow Filtration of Uniform Particle Suspensions by Ceramic Membrane

Abstract

Using a ceramic membrane, cross-flow filtration was experimentally studied for particle suspensions of uniform diameter. A modified standard filtration model was applied to calculate a time-decline curve of permeate flux. A comparison of calculated results with experimental ones demonstrated that this model could effectively predict the flux-decline curve against the various membrane characteristics and operating conditions.
A so-called “dynamically formed self-rejective membrane” behavior was observed in the cake layer formed on the membrane surface. It was also noted that not only the compaction of cake layer and/or plugging of particles into the membrane pores but also the difference of cake layer thickness caused by the magnitude of the transmembrane pressure difference were responsible for the presence of critical permeate flux.