Microfiltration cross-flow filtration

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. 

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...

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. 

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 cross-flow filtration method is applied mainly to hyper- and ultrafiltration as well as to some microfiltration.8 In cross-flow filtration the slurry solution or suspension fed to the filter flows parallel to the filter medium or membrane. The filtration product (permeate or filtrate) leaves the filtration module at right angles to the filter medium (the membrane). The traditional perpendicular flow filtration (where the flow of the suspension is directed at right angles to the filter medium and the permeate leaves the filter medium in the same direction) entails filter cake buildup, whereas cross-flow filtration is intended to prevent such filter... 

However, the short lifetime of in-line cartridge filters makes them unsuitable for microfiltration of highly contaminated feed streams. Cross-flow filtration, which overlaps significantly with ultrafiltration technology, described in Chapter 6, is used in such applications. In cross-flow filtration, long filter life is achieved by sweeping the majority of the retained particles from the membrane surface before they enter the membrane. Screen filters are preferred for this application, and an ultrafiltration membrane can be used. The design of such membranes and modules is covered under ultrafiltration (Chapter 6) and will not be repeated here. 

The advantages and disadvantages of in-line microfiltration and cross-flow filtration are compared in Table 7.2. In general, in-line filtration is preferred as a polishing operation for already clean solutions, for example, to sterilize water... 

Microfiltration is a unit operation for the separation of small particles. The separation limits are between 0.02 and 10 (jum particle dimensions. Microfiltration can be carried out in a dead-end mode and a cross-flow mode. In downstream processing, the cross-flow filtration is carried out continuously or discontinuously. The most important parameters that determine the productivity of cross-flow microfiltration are transmembrane pressure, velocity, particle size and surface, viscosity of the liquid and additives such as surfactants, and changing the surface and surface tension. 

Cross-flow filtration is also referred to as tangential flow filtration or microfiltration, but all three terms refer to a process by which membranes are used to separate components in a liquid solution (or suspension) on the basis of their size. The development of robust membranes in polymeric and ceramic materials has provided a powerful new technology for bioseparations, which is already widespread in the process industries as well as for water treatment processes. 

In filtration unit operation, especially in microfiltration, one usually differentiates between dead-end filtration (with cake formation) and cross-flow filtration [25] (Fig. 5). The cross-flow filter can have different geometries (Fig. 6) phase membranes, tubular membranes, or pleated membranes, of which the tubular and pleated ones are already accepted as cross-flow geometries in reactor technology, as mentioned above. In filtration engineering the cross-flow term means that the filtrate flows perpendicularly to the suspension stream. Cross-flow may not be considered a sufficiently illustrative term here [25]. A better term would be parallel filtration, but the term cross-flow filtration has been accepted generally and may be difficult to change at present. 

Pulsate flows were applied to mineral microfiltrations membranes during apple juice filtration [36] illustrating the advantage of this method to enhance permeability compared to steady flow regime. With carefully chosen pulsations permeate flux increased up to 45% at 1 Hz pulsation frequency. Moreover well defined pulsations decreased the hydraulic power dissipated in the retentate per unit volume by up to 30%. In an other work on cross-flow filtration of plasma from blood [37] permeate flux increase was also observed when pressure and flow pulsations at 1 Hz are superimposed on the retentate. 

Y. Matsumoto, S. Nakao and S. Kimura, Cross-flow filtration of solutions of polymers using ceramic microfiltration. Int. Chem. Eng., 28 (1988) 677. 

In the past ten to fifteen years or so, the applications sphere of cross-flow filtration has been extended to include microfiltration (MF) which primarily deals with the filtration of colloidal or particulate suspensions with size ranging from 0.02 to about 10 microns. Microfiltration applications are rapidly developing and range from sterile water production to clarification of beverages and fermentation products and concentration of cell mass, yeast, E-coli and other media in biotechnology related applications. 

Depending on the size of cells and debris, and the desired clarity of the filtrate, microfiltration membranes with pore sizes ranging from 0.01 to 10 pm can be used. In cross-flow filtration (CFF see Figure 9.2b), the liquid flows parallel to the membrane surface, and so provides a higher filtration flux than does dead-end filtration (Figure 9.2a), where the liquid path is solely through the membrane. In CFF, a lesser amount of the retained species will accumulate on the membrane surface, as some of retained species is swept from the membrane surface by the... 

Figure 1.12 Dead-end vs. cross-flow filtration. Source Cheryan, Copyrighf 1998 from Ultrafiltration and Microfiltration Handbook by M. Cheryan. Reproduced by permission of Routledge/Taylor FraiKis Group, LLC.

Luong et al. [126] published research describing affinity cross-flow filtration similar to the CARE process. The system consisted of three reaction vessels and two cross-flow filtration units. In the first vessel, the product was loaded onto an affinity resin in a batchwise manner. Contaminants were removed by cross-flow microfiltration and the washed affinity resin was transferred to the second vessel, where the product was dissociated from the resin. The product was separated from the resin in the second cross flow microfiltration unit. In the third vessel, the affinity medium was regenerated and equilibrated for the next loading step. A continuous process mode is feasible but would be very complicated. The process is not very well suited for the processing of suspensions and turbid solutions because cells and the affinity resin are retained by the membrane. Instead of an affinity resin, an affinity emulsion can be used, but the properties of the process will not be changed. 

Most membrane processes operate by means of cross-flow filtration, in which only part of the fluid passes through the membrane as filtrate (or, more correctly, permeate, since some membrane processes operate by permeation rather than filtration) the retained part, the concentrate or retentate, conseqnently becomes more concentrated in particulate or solute species. Membrane systems are frequently operated in a closed loop, with the retentate recycled, and final concentrate is taken from the loop in proportion to the added feed suspension. Whereas microfiltration utilizes both through-flow and cross-flow filtration, cross-flow is the nsnal mode for the other membrane filtration processes, and has thereby grown to its present level of importance. 

A. E. Ostermann and E. Pfleiderer, "AppHcation of the Principle of Cross-Flow in SoHd/Liquid Microfiltration," in the Proceedings of the Symposium on Economic Optimi tion Strategy in SolidjFiquid Separation Processes, SocifitH Beige de Filtration, Louvaine-la-Neuve, Belgium, Nov. 1981, pp. 123-138. 

Process Description Microfiltration (MF) separates particles from true solutions, be they liquid or gas phase. Alone among the membrane processes, microfiltration may be accomplished without the use of a membrane. The usual materi s retained by a microfiltra-tion membrane range in size from several [Lm down to 0.2 [Lm. At the low end of this spectrum, very large soluble macromolecules are retained by a microfilter. Bacteria and other microorganisms are a particularly important class of particles retained by MF membranes. Among membrane processes, dead-end filtration is uniquely common to MF, but cross-flow configurations are often used. 

---