Flow Filtration

Currently, most MF systems operate with the more conventional through-flow filtration -one stream in and one stream out. The particles accumulate on the membrane and are disposed of with the membrane. 

Filter medium (gravel, sand, charcoal, diatomaceous earth 

The development of a truly anisotropic MF membrane will be a major breakthrough for cross-flow microfiltration. 

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In situations where a low concentration of suspended solids needs to be separated from a liquid, then cross-flow filtration can be used. The most common design uses a porous tube. The suspension is passed through the tube at high velocity and is concentrated as the liquid flows through the porous medium. The turbulent flow prevents the formation of a filter cake, and the solids are removed as a more concentrated slurry. 

The advantage of single-pass over cross-flow filtration is that it is an easier system to operate and can be cost effective, particularly if the product to be filtered is expensive, because very tittle of the initial fluid is lost during filtration. However, because the flow pattern of the fluid is directly through the filter, filter life maybe too short for the fluid being filtered. The minimum flow rate needed downstream of the filter must also be considered, especially when there are time constraints to the process. In some situations it may be more advantageous to use a cross-flow system where higher flow rates may be easier to obtain. 

Mechanical Cake Removal. This method is used in the American version of the dynamic filter described under cross-flow filtration with rotating elements, where turbine-type rotors are used to limit the cake thickness at low speeds. The Exxflow filter, introduced in the United Kingdom, is described in more detail under cross-flow filtration in porous pipes. It uses, among other means, a roUer cleaning system which periodically roUs over a curtain of flexible pipes and dislodges any cake on the inside of the pipes. The cake is then flushed out of the curtain by the internal flow. 

Cross-Flow Filtration in Porous Pipes. Another way of limiting cake growth is to pump the slurry through porous pipes at high velocities of the order of thousands of times the filtration velocity through the walls of the pipes. This is ia direct analogy with the now weU-estabHshed process of ultrafiltration which itself borders on reverse osmosis at the molecular level. The three processes are closely related yet different ia many respects. 

The idea of ultrafiltration has been extended ia recent years to the filtration of particles ia the micrometer and submicrometer range ia porous pipes, usiag the same cross-flow principle. In order to prevent blocking, thicker flow channels are necessary, almost exclusively ia the form of tubes. The process is often called cross-flow microfiltration but the term cross-flow filtration is used here. 

Other iavestigations of cross-flow filtration iaclude the study of the coaceatratioa of bacteria (41), the coaceatratioa of fermentation cell debris (42), the coaceatratioa of electrocoatiag paiat (43), the chemical effects oa cross-flow filtratioa of primary sewage efflueat (44), and the use of tubes of different materials, dimensions, and porosity with several slurries (45). 

Fig. 28. Schematic representation of dead-end and cross-flow filtration with microfiltration membranes. The equipment used in dead-end filtration is simple, but retained particles plug the membranes rapidly. The equipment required for cross-flow filtration is more complex, but the membrane lifetime is...

Anodic deposition is controlled by either fluid shear (cross-flow filtration) (48), similar to gel-polarization control, or by continual anode replacement (electrodeposited paints) (46). High fluid shear rates can cause deviations from theory when E > (49). The EUF efficiency drops rapidly... 

Cross-flow-elec trofiltratiou (CF-EF) is the multifunctional separation process which combines the electrophoretic migration present in elec trofiltration with the particle diffusion and radial-migration forces present in cross-flow filtration (CFF) (microfiltration includes cross-flow filtration as one mode of operation in Membrane Separation Processes which appears later in this section) in order to reduce further the formation of filter cake. Cross-flow-electrofiltratiou can even eliminate the formation of filter cake entirely. This process should find application in the filtration of suspensions when there are charged particles as well as a relatively low conduc tivity in the continuous phase. Low conductivity in the continuous phase is necessary in order to minimize the amount of elec trical power necessaiy to sustain the elec tric field. Low-ionic-strength aqueous media and nonaqueous suspending media fulfill this requirement. 

Theory Cross-flow-elecfrofiltration can theoretically be treated as if it were cross-flow filtration with superimposed electrical effects. These electrical effects include elecfroosmosis in the filter medium and cake and elecfrophoresis of the particles in the shiny. The addition of the applied electric field can, nowever, result in some quahta-tive differences in permeate-flux-parameter dependences. 

The resistances, when incorporated into equations descriptive of cross-flow filtration, yield the general expression for the permeate flux for particulate suspensions in cross-flow-electrofiltration systems. 

Filtration Cross-flow filtration (microfiltration includes cross-flow filtration as one mode of operation in Membrane Separation Processes which appears earlier in this section) relies on the retention of particles by a membrane. The driving force for separation is pressure across a semipermeable membrane, while a tangential flow of the feed stream parallel to the membrane surface inhibits solids settling on and within the membrane matrix (Datar and Rosen, loc. cit.). 

The factors to consider in the selection of cross-flow filtration include the cross-flow velocity, the driving pressure, the separation characteristics of the membrane (permeability and pore size), size of particulates relative to the membrane pore dimensions, and the hydrodynamic conditions within the flow module. Again, since particle-particle and particle-membrane interactions are key, broth conditioning (ionic strength, pH, etc.) may be necessary to optimize performance. 

A membrane is defined as an intervening phase separating two phases forming an active or passive barrier to the transport of matter. Membrane processes can be operated as (1) Dead-end filtration and (2) Cross-flow filtration. Dead-end filtration refers to filtration at one end. A problem with these systems is frequent membrane clogging. Cross-flow filtration overcomes the problem of membrane clogging and is widely used in water and wastewater treatment. 

The advantages of cross-flow filtration over conventional filtration are ... 

A flow diagram of a simple cross-flow system is shown in Figure 16.12. This is the system likely to be used for batch processing or development rigs it is in essence a basic pump recirculation loop. The process feed is concentrated by pumping it from the tank and across the membrane in the module at an appropriate velocity. The partly concentrated retentate is recycled into the tank for further processing while the permeate is stored or discarded as required. In cross-flow filtration applications, product washing is frequently necessary and... 

Fig. 16.13. Time dependence of membrane permeation rate during cross-flow filtration (a) low cross-flow velocity, (b) increased cross-flow velocity, (c) back flushing at the bottom of each saw-tooth .

Membrane modules can be configured in various ways to produce a plant of the required separation capability. A simple batch recirculation system has already been described in cross-flow filtration. Such an arrangement is most suitable for small-scale batch operation, but larger scale plants will operate as feed and bleed or continuous single pass operation (Figure 16.20). 

Dornase alfa is produced by genetically engineered Chinese Hamster ovary cells containing DNA encoding for the native human protein deoxyribunuclease I. It is purified by tangential flow filtration and column chromatography. 

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