Flow separators membrane separator

Process Description Gas-separation membranes separate gases from other gases. Some gas filters, which remove hquids or sohds from gases, are microfiltration membranes. Gas membranes generally work because individual gases differ in their solubility and diffusivity through nonporous polymers. A few membranes operate by sieving, Knudsen flow, or chemical complexation. 

Membrane gas-separation systems have found their first applications in the recovery of organics from process vents and effluent air [5]. More than a hundred systems have been installed in the past few years. The technique itself therefore has a solid commercial background. Membranes are assembled typically in spiral-wound modules, as shown in Fig. 7.3. Sheets of membrane interlayered with spacers are wound around a perforated central pipe. The gas mixture to be processed is fed into the annulus between the module housing and the pipe, which becomes a collector for the permeate. The spacers serve to create channels for the gas flow. The membranes separate the feed side from the permeate side. 

Mass flows from membrane separator 100 kg/h, 5% Hydrogen and 93% ethane... 

Figure 3 Schematic of (A) flow-through membrane separation unit for flat sheet membranes (B) top view of one of the unit s halves with linear, meander, and Archimedes spiral groove and (C) tubular flow-through membrane separation unit.

FIGURE 18.6 Countercurrent flow (a) and cocurrent flow (b) membrane separators. 

Factors affecting RO membrane separations and water flux include feed variables such as solute concentration, temperature, pH, and pretreatment requirements membrane variables such as polymer type, module geometry, and module arrangement and process variables such as feed flow rate, operating time and pressure, and water recovery. 

Electrodialysis. In electro dialysis (ED), the saline solution is placed between two membranes, one permeable to cations only and the other to anions only. A direct electrical current is passed across this system by means of two electrodes, causiag the cations ia the saline solution to move toward the cathode, and the anions to the anode. As shown ia Figure 15, the anions can only leave one compartment ia their travel to the anode, because a membrane separating them from the anode is permeable to them. Cations are both excluded from one compartment and concentrated ia the compartment toward the cathode. This reduces the salt concentration ia some compartments, and iacreases it ia others. Tens to hundreds of such compartments are stacked together ia practical ED plants, lea ding to the creation of alternating compartments of fresh and salt-concentrated water. ED is a continuous-flow process, where saline feed is continuously fed iato all compartments and the product water and concentrated brine flow out of alternate compartments. 

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. 

Cross Flow Most membrane processes are operated in cross flow, and only a few have the option to operate in the more conventional dead-end flow. In cross flow, the retentate passes parallel to the separating membrane, often at a velocity an order of magnitude higher than the velocity of the stream passing through the membrane. Microfiltration is the major membrane process in which a significant number if apphcations may be run with dead-end flow. 

FIGt 22-48 Transport mechanisms for separation membranes a) Viscous flow, used in UF and MF. No separation achieved in RO, NF, ED, GAS, or PY (h) Knudsen flow used in some gas membranes. Pore diameter < mean free path, (c) Ultramicroporoiis membrane—precise pore diameter used in gas separation, (d) Solution-diffusion used in gas, RO, PY Molecule dissolves in the membrane and diffuses through. Not shown Electro-dialysis membranes and metallic membranes for hydrogen. 

Cassettes Cassette is a term used to describe two different cross-flow membrane devices. The less-common design is a usually large stack of membrane separated by a spacer, with flow moving in parallel across the membrane sheets. This variant is sometimes referred to as a flat spiral, since there is some similarity in the way feed and permeate are handled. The more common cassette has long been popular in the pharmaceutical and biotechnical field. It too is a stack of flat-sheet membranes, but the membrane is usually connected so that the feed flows across the membrane elements in series to achieve higher conversion per pass. Their popularity stems from easy direct sc e-up from laboratoiy to plant-scale equipment. Their hmitation is that fluid management is inherently veiy hmited and inefficient. Both types of cassette are veiy compact and capable of automated manufacture. 

Selective gas permeation has been known for generations, and the early use of p adium silver-alloy membranes achieved sporadic industrial use. Gas separation on a massive scale was used to separate from using porous (Knudsen flow) membranes. An upgrade of the membranes at Oak Ridge cost 1.5 billion. Polymeric membranes became economically viable about 1980, introducing the modern era of gas-separation membranes. Hg recoveiy was the first major apphcation, followed quickly by acid gas separation (CO9/CH4) and the production of No from air. 

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.). 

As described above, the application of classical liquid- liquid extractions often results in extreme flow ratios. To avoid this, a completely symmetrical system has been developed at Akzo Nobel in the early 1990s [64, 65]. In this system, a supported liquid-membrane separates two miscible chiral liquids containing opposite chiral selectors (Fig. 5-13). When the two liquids flow countercurrently, any desired degree of separation can be achieved. As a result of the system being symmetrical, the racemic mixture to be separated must be added in the middle. Due to the fact that enantioselectivity usually is more pronounced in a nonaqueous environment, organic liquids are used as the chiral liquids and the membrane liquid is aqueous. In this case the chiral selector molecules are lipophilic in order to avoid transport across the liquid membrane. 

A limitation to the more widespread use of membrane separation processes is membrane fouling, as would be expected in the industrial application of such finely porous materials. Fouling results in a continuous decline in membrane penneation rate, an increased rejection of low molecular weight solutes and eventually blocking of flow channels. On start-up of a process, a reduction in membrane permeation rate to 30-10% of the pure water permeation rate after a few minutes of operation is common for ultrafiltration. Such a rapid decrease may be even more extreme for microfiltration. This is often followed by a more gradual... 

There are comparable incentives to develop new process-related materials that are more selective as catalysts, extractants, or separation membranes and more effective in controlling flow in porous media. In addition, the development of materials that are less energy intensive in terms of production and use is a goal equivalent to other means of energy conservation. 

If a semipermeable membrane separates two identical solutions, solvent molecules move in both directions at the same rate, and there is no net osmosis. The two sides of the membrane are at dynamic equilibrium. The situation changes when the solutions on the two sides of the membrane are different. Consider the membrane in Figure 12-14a. which has pure water on one side and a solution of sugar in water on the other. The sugar molecules reduce the concentration of solvent molecules in the solution. Consequently, fewer solvent molecules pass through the membrane from the solution side than from the pure solvent side. Water flows from the side containing pure solvent to the side containing solution, so there is a net rate of osmosis. 

Applications Membranes create a boundary between different bulk gas or hquid mixtures. Different solutes and solvents flow through membranes at different rates. This enables the use of membranes in separation processes. Membrane processes can be operated at moderate temperatures for sensitive components (e.g., food, pharmaceuticals). Membrane processes also tend to have low relative capital and energy costs. Their modular format permits rehable scale-up and operation. This unit operation has seen widespread commercial adoption since the 1960s for component enrichment, depletion, or equilibration. Estimates of annual membrane module sales in 2005 are shown in Table 20-16. Applications of membranes for diagnostic and bench-scale use are not included. Natural biological systems widely employ membranes to isolate cells, organs, and nuclei. 

Asymmetric membranes have a tight, low-permeability, retentive zone that performs the desired separation and a more open, high-permeability zone that provides mechanical strength to the overall membrane. This structure is particularly critical to the economic viability of reverse-osmosis membranes. Asymmetric membranes operated in TFF mode must have the tight side facing the feed channel so that particles are retained on its surface and can be acted upon by the tangential flow. Asymmetric membranes operated in NFF mode can... 

Membrane separation coupled on-line to a flow-injection system was employed for the monitoring of propazine and terbutryn in natural water. A microporous hydro-phobic membrane was utilized in which the analytes were extracted from the aqueous medium into an organic solvent that was carried to the flow cell of a photodiode-array spectrophotometer. The LCDs were 4-5 qg so the technique could potentially be used for screening purposes. Samples with positive detection would require further analysis. 

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