Membranes membrane types

Fig. 26. Screen filters contain pores of a uniform size and retain all particulates greater than the pore diameter at the surface of the membrane. Depth filters contain a distribution of pore sizes. Particulates entering the membrane are trapped at constrictions within the membrane. Both types of filters are rated 10...

Membranes. Membranes comprised of activated alumina films less than 20 )J.m thick have been reported (46). These films are initially deposited via sol—gel technology (qv) from pseudoboehmite sols and are subsequently calcined to produce controlled pore sizes in the 2 to 10-nm range. Inorganic membrane systems based on this type of film and supported on soHd porous substrates have been introduced commercially. They are said to have better mechanical and thermal stabiUty than organic membranes (47). The activated alumina film comprises only a miniscule part of the total system (see Mel rane technology). 

Fig. 1. Water flux and NaCl rejection of several membrane types (10), where (D) represents seawater membranes, which operate at 5.5 MPa and 25°C ...

The success of a reverse osmosis process hinges direcdy on the pretreatment of the feed stream. If typical process streams, without pretreatment to remove partially some of the constituents Hsted, were contacted with membranes, membrane life and performance would be unacceptable. There is no single pretreatment for all types of foulants. Pretreatment methods range from pH control, adsorption (qv), to filtration (qv), depending on the chemistry of the particular foulant. Some of the pretreatment methods for each type of foulant are as foUow (43—45) ... 

Gleaning. Fouling films are removed from the membrane surface by chemical and mechanical methods. Chemicals and procedures vary with the process, membrane type, system configuration, and materials of constmction. The equipment manufacturer recommends cleaning methods for specific apphcations. A system is considered clean when it has returned to >75% of its original water flux. 

The second major membrane type is a composite. Starting with a loose asymmetric membrane, usually a UF membrane, a coating is applied which is polymerized in situ to become the salt rejecflng membrane. This process is used for most high-performance flat-sheet RO membranes, as well as for many commercial nanofiltration membranes. The chemistry of the leading RO membranes is known, but... 

Kev>erse Osmosis (RO) Membranes A type of membrane system for treating oily wastewater is currently undergoing commercialization by Bend Research, Inc. The system uses a tube-side feed module that yields high fluxes while being able to handle high-sohds-content waste streams (Ref. 25). Another type of reverse osmosis technique is being designed to yield ultrapurified HF recovered from... 

Crossflow Filters - These are usually membrane-type filters used for ultrafiltration. In the field of biotechnology these types of filters are used in ultrafiltration devices used in concentrating solutions, and performing buffer exchanges. 

Table 2 provides a comparison of membrane structures. Between these two tables, you should get an idea of the operating conditions viz., membrane structural types, the driving forces involved in separation, and the separation mechanisms. 

Process Retentate Permeate Common range of feed pressure (atm) Membrane type Typical iqrplications/ species... 

In supported liquid membranes, a chiral liquid is immobilized in the pores of a membrane by capillary and interfacial tension forces. The immobilized film can keep apart two miscible liquids that do not wet the porous membrane. Vaidya et al. [10] reported the effects of membrane type (structure and wettability) on the stability of solvents in the pores of the membrane. Examples of chiral separation by a supported liquid membrane are extraction of chiral ammonium cations by a supported (micro-porous polypropylene film) membrane [11] and the enantiomeric separation of propranolol (2) and bupranolol (3) by a nitrate membrane with a A/ -hexadecyl-L-hydroxy proline carrier [12]. 

The choice of the most suitable membrane module type for a particular membrane separation must balance several factors. The principal module design parameters that enter into the decision are summarised in Table 16.3. 

Resistance to puncture is another type of loading. It is of particular interest in applications involving sheet and film as well as thin-walled tubing or molding and other membrane type loaded structures. Hie surface skins of sandwich panels are another area where it is important. A localized force is applied by a relatively sharp object perpendicular to the plane of the sheet of material being stressed. If the material is thick compared to the area of application of the stress, it is effectively a localized compression stress with some shear effects as the material is deformed below the surface of the sheet. 

MMP-23A CA-MMP Membrane-associated Type-I I transmembrane cysteine array... 

MA M10 M10.014 Membrane-type matrix m etallo pe pt id ase-1 Potential drug target for tumor cell invasion... 

Potentiometry (discussed in Chapter 5), which is of great practical importance, is a static (zero current) technique in which the information about the sample composition is obtained from measurement of the potential established across a membrane. Different types of membrane materials, possessing different ion-recognition processes, have been developed to impart high selectivity. The resulting potentiometric probes have thus been widely used for several decades for direct monitoring of ionic species such as protons or calcium, fluoride, and potassium ions in complex samples. 

The liquid-liquid patition systems discussed above are in fact very similar to various membrane-type interfaces and may serve as a model for them.A good example is, for instance, the distribution of a dissociated salt between an aqueous solution and a permeable organic polmer. ... 

Finally, a simple method for a rapid evaluation of the activity of high surface area electrocatalysts is to observe the electrocatalytic response of a dispersion of carbon-supported catalyst in a thin layer of a recast proton exchange membrane.This type of electrode can be easily obtained from a solution of Nafion. As an example. Fig. 11 gives the comparative... 

Membrane-type fuel cells. The electrolyte is a polymeric ion-exchange membrane the working temperatures are 60 to 100°C. Such systems were first used in Gemini spaceships. These fuel cells subsequently saw a rather broad development and are known as (solid) polymer electrolyte or proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). 

In the design of membrane-type fuel cell stacks (batteries), membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) are used, which consist of a sheet of membrane and of the two electrodes (positive and negative) pressed onto it from either side. 

In the first membrane-type fuel cells, the dispersed platinum catalyst was pure metal because of its large consumption. Smaller consumption and a much more efficient utilization of the platinum catalyst were attained by depositing the metal on a highly disperse carbon carrier. The best results were attained by using Vulcan XC-72 furnace... 

Traditional octanol-water distribuhon coefficients are shll widely used in quan-titahve structure-achvity relationship (QSAR) and in ADM E/PK studies. However, alternahve solvent systems have been proposed [80]. To cover the variabihty in biophysical characterishcs of different membrane types a set of four solvents has been suggested, somehmes called the critical quartet [81]. The 1,2-dichloroeth-ane-water system has been promoted as a good alternative to alkane-water due to its far better dissolution properties [82, 83], but may find little applicahon because of its carcinogenic properties. 

Liquid Membranes Several types of liquid membranes exist molten salt, emulsion, immobilized/supported, and hollow-fiber-contained liquid membranes. Araki and Tsukube (Liquid Membranes Chemical Applications, CRC Press, 1990) and Sec. IX and Chap. 42 in Ho and Sirkar (eds.) (op. cit., pp. 724, 764-808) contain detailed information and extensive bibliographies. 

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