Multi-tubular membrane modules

Multi-tubular membrane modules are best suited for feed streams with higher levels of suspended solid content, such as sludge concentration in wastewater treatment, degreasing plant bath life extension, oily wastewater treatment and paint recovery. 

Within a few years of the invention of the L-S membrane, development of the RO membrane modules technique was reaHsed. Haven and Guy developed tubular RO membranes in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s, Westmoreland and later Bray invented the spiral-wound module, which was more efficient than the tube-in-sheU module. The spiral-wound membrane can be viewed as a plate-and-frame (PAF) arrangement that has been rolled up. The original module had a single leaf of membrane whereas modem spiral-wound modules contain multi-leaf membranes. 

In addition to the planar geometry, inorganic membranes can also be produced in flat disk, tubular (dead-end or not), monolithic multi-channel, or hollow fiber configurations as shown in Figure 1.6. Disk membranes are often used in the laboratory because they can easily be fabricated by the conventional pressing method. In the case of tubes, they can be assembled in a module containing a number of tubes connected to a single manifold system. 

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