Packing material geometry

Adamski, RP Anderson, JL, Configurational Effects on Polystyrene Rejection from Micro-porosou Membranes, Journal of Polymer Science Part B Polymer Physics 25, 765, 1987. Adler, PM, Porous Media, Geometry and Transports Butterworth-Heinemann Boston, 1992. Afeyan, NB Fulton, SP Regnier, FE, Perfusion Chromatography Packing Materials for Proteins and Peptides, Journal of Chromatography 544, 267, 1991. 

The separation efficiency (e.g. permselectivity and permeability) of inorganic membranes depends, to a large extent, on the microstructural features of the membrane/support composites such as pore size and its distribution, pore shape, porosity and tortuosity. The microstructures (as a result of the various preparation methods and the processing conditions discussed in Chapter 2) and the membrane/support geometry will be described in some detail, particularly for commercial inorganic membranes. Other material-related membrane properties will be taken into consideration for specific separation applications. For example, the issues of chemical resistance and surface interaction of the membrane material and the physical nature of the module packing materials in relation to the membranes will be addressed. 

The factors that control separation and dispersion are quite different. The relative separation of two solutes is solely dependent on the nature and magnitude of the Interactions between each solute and the two phases. Thus, the relative movement of each solute band would appear to be Independent of column dimensions or particle geometry and be determined only by the choice of the stationary phase and the mobile phase. However, there is a caveat to this statement. It assumes that any exclusion properties of the stationary phase are not included in the term particle geometry. The pore size of the packing material can control retention directly and exclusively, as in exclusion chromatography or, indirectly, by controlling the access of the solute to the stationary phase in normal and reverse phase chromatography. As all stationary phases based on silica gel exhibit some exclusion properties, the ideal situation where the selective retention of two solutes is solely controlled by phase interactions is rarely met in practice. If the molecular size of the solutes differ, then the exclusion properties of the silica gel will always play some part in solute retention. 

Most geometry-related properties of packing materials are related to the column efficiency and fiow resistance particle size, particle shape, particle size distribution, packing density, and packing uniformity. Surface-chemistry-related properties are mainly responsible for the analyte retention and separation selectivity. 

The interfacial surface area per unit volume, a, in many types of packing materials used in industrial towers is virtually impossible to measure. Both a and the mass-transfer coefficient depend on the physical geometry of the equipment and on the flow rates of the two contacting, immiscible streams. Accordingly, they are normally correlated together as the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient, kca. 

In conclusion, a few comments about the practical importance of heterogeneous-homogeneous reactions from kinetic viewpoint. Usually industrial reactors have a relatively large free volume and the packing material is also present in addition to the catalyst. If homogeneous reactions are beneficial for the overall process, then they will be retarded due to deactivation of radicals and the rate will be lower compared to laboratory reactors with more advantageous reactor geometries. 

The values of and HETS depend on the form of the packing material, the type of packing (or the geometry in general), the operating conditions, and the properties of the two counterflow phases, n, can only be computed in particularly simple cases. The value is usually determined experimentally. 

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