Membrane systems design description

In the following, after a brief description of the conventional separation processes, a comparison among these processes and membrane systems is reported, also introducing some design considerations such as process flexibility, reliability, ease of response to the variations, expansion capability and versatility. ... 

Transport Models. Many mechanistic and mathematical models have been proposed to describe reverse osmosis membranes. Some of these descriptions rely on relatively simple concepts others are far more complex and require sophisticated solution techniques. Models that adequately describe the performance of RO membranes are important to the design of RO processes. Models that predict separation characteristics also minimize the number of experiments that must be performed to describe a particular system. Excellent reviews of membrane transport models and mechanisms are available (9,14,25-29). 

Single membrane units can be evaluated based on their geometry and operation conditions. Zolandz and Fleming [4] provide a good description for gas permeation systems and models for design purposes. Sender [5] discusses the use of cascades (or staging) for various series and/or parallel sets of membrane modules. 

Since sorption and sorbents are quite different from the equilibrium-staged processes and the membrane separations studied earlier, we need to first carefully define the terms needed to study and design these systems. After a short description of the different sorbents, the equilibrium behavior of sorbent systems will be introduced. Then the last fundamental piece required is the mass transfer characteristics of sorbents and sorption processes. 

Volume 1 covers fluid dynamics, modelling, mixing of one-phase and dispersed two-phase systems, heat and mass transfer. One chapter is concerned about purification and separation focusing on extraction, membrane technology, and capillary electrochromatography. This is rounded off by a description on microstructured reactors and their engineering/design for various applications. 

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