SORAN UNIVERSITY

Faculty OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Membrane separation process

Supervised by prepared by
-Mr. Ali Hosen -avan kareem

Introduction

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Membranes are the selective barriers normally used to separate two phases and restrict the
transport of various chemicals in a selective manner. (Fig.1.1). Membranes can be homogenous
or heterogeneous, symmetric or asymmetric in structure, solid or liquid, porous or non porous. In
case of porous membrane pore, size is the key parameters which determine the effective ness and
efficiency of the membrane. It can carry a positive or negative charge or be neutral or bipolar.
Transport through a membrane can be affected by convection or by diffusion of individual
molecules, induced by an electric field or concentration, pressure or temperature gradient.
Normally, separation occurs under a pressure gradient or sometimes under an electrical potential
gradient, associate with or without a catalytic reaction. System which can be separated, are solid
particles suspended in a fluid medium and mixture of two different liquids or gases. Separation
through a membrane is schematically shown in Fig 1.1. Porous membranes are typically
classified according to their pore sizes in the following manner:

Fig . 1.1 : A membrane as a selective barrier between two homogeneous phases [1]

MEMBRANE MATERIALS
The selection of membranes offered by the various suppliers in the business may appear to be

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confusing since many materials may be used to make membranes, and they are provided under
an array
of trade names. In reality, relatively few materials are actually used in quantity, and only a few
basic
membrane types form the bulk of the membranes being sold and used.
INTEGRAL MEMBANE MATERIALS
Cellulose acetate (CA) is the “original” membrane and is used for RO, NF and UF applications.
The
material has a number of limitations, mostly with respect to limited pH tolerance and
temperature. The
main advantage of CA is its low price, it’s ability to tolerate high levels of chlorine in the feed
water
(thus avoiding biological fouling issues), and the fact that it has a smooth, hydrophilic surface
which
makes it less prone to fouling.

Polyamide (PA) as the alternative RO membrane material used in this film composite RO
membrane
as discussed below under composite materials.

Polysulfone (PSO) in a number of varieties has been used for UF and MF membrane since 1975.
PSO’s main advantage is its exceptional temperature and pH resistance. As a rule, PSO
membranes do
not tolerate oil, grease, fat and polar solvents.

Polyvinylidenedifluoride (PVDF) is a traditional membrane material and is increasingly used as

it has
a high resistance to hydrocarbons and oxidizing environments

Polypropylene (PP) is a pure polymer membrane used in the manufacture of UF and MF

membranes.
Polypropylene has a low resistance to oxidizing agents.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Also called thin-film composite membranes, they appear under various acronyms such as TFC
and

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TFM, and were made to replace cellulose acetate RO membranes. The main advantage is the
combination of relatively high flux and very high salt rejection, 99.5% NaCl rejection commonly
achieved with composite RO membranes. They also have good temperature and pH resistance,
but do
not tolerate oxidizing environments. Composite membranes are made in two-layer and three-
layer
designs, the precise composition of which is proprietary. Generally speaking, a thin-film
composite
membrane consists of a PSO membrane as support for the very thin skin layer of polyamide
which is
polymerized in situ on the PSO UF membrane. The three layer design has two thin film
membranes on
top of the PSO support membrane.

MEMBRANE GEOMETRICS

Spiral wound module: Consists of consecutive layers of membrane and support material rolled
up
around a tube. This creates a very large membrane surface area in a very compact space. Spiral
wound
systems are thus less expensive than other systems. However, the relatively constrained / tight
feed
spacer arrangement makes them more sensitive to particulate fouling.

Tubular membrane: The feed solution flows through the membrane core and the permeate is
collected in the tubular housing. Generally used for viscous or feed solutions with high
suspended
solids. System is not very compact compared to an equivalent spiral system and has a high cost
per
unit area installed.

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Hollow fibre membrane: The modules contain several small (0.3 to 1.2mm diameter) fibres.
The
fibres can be either submerged directly in the feed solution or housed in a cartridge. Typically,
the feed
solution flows from the “outside-in” and the permeate collected in the hollow fibre.

Flat Sheet: Flat sheet membranes are typically used for wastewater applications where the feed
solution has high suspended solids. The flat sheet has a membrane surface on each side and a
permeate
carrier sandwiched between. The trans-membrane pressure is generated by the differential head
between the water level in the membrane tank and the level in the permeate water tank.

Various configurations of operating a filtration process:

1-Dead-end Filtration:
The most basic form of filtration is dead-end filtration. The complete feed flow is forced through
the membrane, and the filtered matter is accumulated at the surface of the membrane. The dead-
end filtration is a batch process as the accumulated matter in the filter decreases the 21 filtration
capacity, due to clogging. A next process step to remove the accumulated matter is required.
Dead-end filtration can be a very useful technique for concentrating compounds.

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Table : Represents the characteristics of membranes used in different membrane separation
processes, process driving forces and applications of such processes

2-Cross-flow Filtration
With cross-flow filtration, a constant turbulent flow along the membrane surface prevents the
accumulation of matter in the membrane surface. The membranes used in this process are
commonly tubes with a membrane layer on the inside wall of the tube. The feed flow through the
membrane tube has an elevated pressure as the driving force for the filtration process and a
highflow speed to create turbulent conditions. The process is referred to as "cross-flow", because
the feed flow and filtration flow direction have a 90 degrees angle. Cross-flow filtration is an
excellent way to filter liquids with a high concentration of filterable matter.

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3- Hybrid-flow Filtration The hybrid flow process combines the dead-end and the cross-flow
principle. As in the cross-flow filtration tubular membranes are with the filtration layer on the
inside wall are used. The filtration process has two phases: the production phase and the flushing
phase. During the production phase, the tubes are closed at one side, and a dead-end filtration is
performed. During the flushing phase, the tube is open to both sides and the fraction that did not
pass through the membranes is removed in order to clean the membrane surface as in cross-flow
filtration. This filtration technique is especially suitable for treating water streams containing
suspended solids in low concentrations (polishing).
4- Submerged Filtration With submerged membrane filtration, the membranes are submerged in
the liquid that has to be filtered. The filtration is performed from the outside to the inside of the
membrane (filtering layer is on the outer side of the tube or plate). Sheer forces along the
membrane surface are created by a flow of air bubbles on the surface. In some cases, the airflow
also results in a liquid flow created by the airlift principle. The driving force is a vacuum applied
on the inner side of the membrane

CONCLUSIONS
Membrane technology is compact, robust and mature. The number of installations and
applications are
increasing. With a clear understanding of likely applications, a mobile membrane plant can be
designed to treat
a range of applications and raw water qualities.
However, it cannot be overstated enough, that the most important aspect of trouble-free
membrane system
operation is in making sure that the pretreatment process is suitable and robust enough to provide
consistent
quality water to the membrane.
There are a wide range of compact pretreatment technologies that are readily available to ensure
sufficient and
appropriate pre-treatment prior to MF, UF or RO membrane filtration. These pre-treatment
technologies include
tube and lamella settlers and high rate filters (installed with proprietary filtration media).
In addition, mobile equipment is different to the majority of (fixed) capital plants that are
installed. Capital plants
are typically designed specifically for the feed water, to have maximum recovery, and lowest
price (to win the
contract). Because Mobile plants will be utilized on a variety of differing water supplies over the
units’ life, and
reliability is an imperative (breakdowns of capital plants form the majority of the needs), they are
typically overengineered
to be robust, flexible, and reliable, in order to meet the market requirements.
Thus the challenge to the designer is develop a design that:
1. Is flexible in terms of application and raw water quality, using where possible standard and
robust
existing technologies

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2. Is compact and can transported on standard 20’ or 40’ containers. Longer containers may be
used but
these may only be transported on selected routes, thus limiting potential opportunities.
3. Is complete with all necessary ancillary equipment such as chemical cleaning tanks and
pumps,
backwash tanks and of course all necessary equipment to cater for any waste streams generated.
4. Is modular, such that containers with the pre-treatment facilities can be easily connected to
subsequent
process trains and ultimately the membrane plant
5. Is affordable. With flexibility comes cost.

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Reference :
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A.S. mazumdar, 2, 472(1984). 11. Aeaeda M, L., Du D. and M. Fuji, J. Chem. Eng., Jpn, 19,
84(1986).

1. Aeaeda M and L., Du D., J. Chem. Eng., Jpn, 19, 72(1986).

2. Leenaars A.F.M. and Burggraaf A.J, J Membrane Sci. 24, 245(1985).

3. McCabe W L and Smith J C, Unit operation of Chem. Engineering, 3rd editon, (1976).

4. Carman P C, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng. 15, 150(1987).

5. Porter M. C. in Microfiltration in Bungay et al. (eds), Synthetic Membrane : Science,

Engineering and
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6. Lee S., Aurelle Y and H., Roques J Membrane Sci., 19, 23(1984).

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