Hollow Fiber Membrane Systems

An example of an industrial membrane bioreactor is the hollow-fiber membrane system for the production of (-)-MPGM (3-(4-methoxyphenyl)glycidic acid methyl ester), which is an important intermediate for the production of diltiazem hydrochloride [81, 82]. For the enantiospecific hydrolysis of MPGM a hollow-fiber ultrafiltration membrane with immobilized lipase from Serratia marcescens is used. (-f)-MPGM is selectively converted into (2S,3J )-(-F)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)glyci-dic acid and methanol. The reactant is dissolved in toluene, whereas the hydrophilic product is removed via the aqueous phase at the permeate side of the membrane, see Fig. 13.9. EnantiomericaUy pure (-)-MPGM is obtained from the to-... 

Figure 16.16 Examples of immersed tubular/hollow-fiber membrane systems.

Ivory J, Feng XS, and Kovacik G. Development of hollow fiber membrane systems for nitrogen generation from combustion exhaust gas—Part II Full-scale module test and membrane stability. J. Membr. Sci. 2002 202 195. 

Figure 10.34b shows a vibrating submerged hollow fiber membrane system for filtration applications [81]. In this system, the submerged membrane is vibrated by a mechanical... 

P.R. Berube and E. Lei, The effect of hydrodynamic conditions and system configurations on the permeate flux in a submerged hollow fiber membrane system, J. Membr. Sci., 271 (2006) 29-37. 

Figure 18.8 shows the flow chart of the hollow fiber membrane system for oxygen production with the vacuum operating mode. The membrane module is placed under a vertically positioned tubular furnace with the sealing points kept out of the bottom inlet of the furnace tube. An oil-free vacuum pump is connected to the lumen of the fibers to yield a negative pressure and to collect the oxygen product. 

Figure 18.8 Flow chart of the hollow fiber membrane system for oxygen production with the vacuum operation mode.

Figure 18.10 Energy consumption of the oxygen product by the LSCF hollow fiber membrane system with heat exchange (A) between the air feed and the oxygen stream (B) between the air feed and the exhaust stream and (C) between air feed and both the exhaust and oxygen streams.

Tubular and hollow-fiber membrane systems can be operated in co-current flow (Figure 17-18B). Binary gas permeation with co-current flow can be analyzed with a staged model similar to that used for cross-flow except now yp y, and the flow pattern must be used to relate the permeate mole frac to the mole... 

Crossley, I., Pedersen, S., and Janson, A. (2003). ZENON introduces new reinforced hollow fiber membrane system. In Proceedings of AWVK4 Membrane Technology Conference and Exhibition, Atlanta, GA, Mar. 2-5, 2003. 

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