Ultrafiltration application examples

The most important application of semi-permeable membranes is in separations based on reverse osmosis. These membranes generally have pores smaller than 1 nm. The pressure across the semi-permeable membranes for reverse osmosis is generally much larger than those for ultrafiltration, for example. This is because reverse osmosis is usually used for small molecules which have a much higher osmotic pressure, because of the higher number density, than the colloids separated in ultrafiltration. As a result reverse osmosis membranes have to be much more robust than ultrafiltration membranes. Since the focus of our discussion in this chapter will be on reverse osmosis based separations, we will describe these membranes in greater detail. 

Plate-and-frame units have been developed for some small-scale applications, but these units are expensive compared to the alternatives, and leaks through the gaskets required for each plate are a serious problem. Plate-and-frame modules are now only used in electrodialysis and pervaporation systems and in a limited number of reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration applications with highly fouling feeds. An example of one of these reverse osmosis units is shown in Figure 3.39 [111],... 

For ultrafiltration applications, hollow fine fibers have never been seriously considered because of their susceptibility to fouling. If the feed solution is extremely fouling, tubular systems are still used. Recently, however, spiral-wound modules with improved resistance to fouling have been developed these modules are increasingly displacing the more expensive tubular systems. This is particularly the case with clean feed solutions, for example, in the ultrafiltration of boiler feed water or municipal water to make ultrapure water for the electronics industry. Capillary systems are also used in some ultrafiltration applications. 

Membrane materials for reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration applications range from polysulfone and polyethersulfone, to cellulose acetate and cellulose diacetate [12,18-23]. Commercially available polyamide composite membranes for desalination of seawater, for example, are available from a variety of companies in the United States, Europe, and Japan [24]. The specific choice of membrane material to use depends on the process (e.g., type of liquid to be treated and operating conditions) and economic factors (e.g., cost of replacement membranes and cost of cleaning chemicals). The exact chemical composition and physical morphology of the membranes may vary from manufacturer to manufaemrer. Since the liquids to be treated and... 

Limitations Some apphcations which seem ideal for MF, for example the clarification of apple j mce, are done with UF instead. The reason is the presence of deformable sohds which easily plug and blind an MF membrane. The pores of an ultrafiltration membrane are so small that this phigging does not occur, and high fluxes are maintained. UF can be used because there is no soluble macromolecule in the juice that is desired in the filtrate. There are a few other significant applications where MF seems obvious, but is not used because of dejormable particle plugging. 

The concentrate derived from ultrafiltration is usually a thick colourless gel containing about 4-8% solids. This must contain an antimicrobial agent to inhibit microbial growth and biological degradation. The type of antimicrobial agent used depends on the particular application for the exopolysaccharide. For example, the nature of file antimicrobial agent is less critical for industrial applications, such as enhanced oil recovery, than for use in cosmetics. 

TABLE 19.1. Examples of Applications of Ultrafiltration (a) Applications Involving Retained Colloidal Particles... 

In the 1960s and early 1970s it was thought that ultrafiltration would be widely used to treat industrial wastewater. This application did not materialize. Ultrafiltration is far too expensive to be generally used for this application, however, it is used to treat small, concentrated waste streams from particular point sources before they are mixed with the general sewer stream. Ultrafiltration is also used if the value of the components to be separated is sufficient to offset the cost of the process. Examples exist in food processing, in which the ultrafiltered concentrate is used to produce a high-value product, or in the production of ultrapure water in the electronics industry. 

Several important UF applications are still in the development stage. For example, metal recovery from plating wastes has been proposed by using a flocculant or a chelating polymer to bind the metal ions, then recovering the polymer complex by ultrafiltration. The metal value may... 

Numerous studies relating to the application of ultrafiltration have been presented in the literature. For example, protein ultrafiltration has been studied by Kozinski (1972). Separations of complex aqueous suspensions and organic solutions have been reported by Bhattacharyya (1974, 1975). Industrial applications have been reviewed by Klinkowski (1978). Theoretical aspects of ultrafiltration have been discussed by Michaels (1968), Porter (1972), Shen (1977) and others. 

It is expected that the intermacromolecular complexes display entirely new physical and chemical characteristics different from those of the individual polymer components. So the following applications are, for example, considered membranes for dialysis, ultrafiltration, fuel cells and battery separators, wearing apparel, electrically conductive and antistatic coatings for textiles, medical and surgical prosthetic materials, environmental sensors or chemical detectors, and electrodes modified with specific polymers. 

CRM for road dust (BCR-723) containing 81.3 2.5 Jg/kg Pt, 6.1 1.9 ig/ kg Pd, and 12.8 1.3 Jg/kg Rh, was introduced [49, 228]. It is widely used for quality control of results obtained in the analysis of environmental materials (e.g., airborne particulate matters, dusts, soils, and sediments). Comparison of results obtained using different analytical procedures and interlaboratory studies are recommended when there is a lack of suitable CRM (e.g., in examination of clinical samples). The use of standards based on real matrices (e.g., saliva, plasma, ultrafiltrates, and lung fluids) instead of synthetic solutions is recommended in such analyses. Difficulties with the identification and quantification of different metal species in examined samples make the reliability of results of great importance. The use of various instrumental techniques for examination of particular samples can be helpful. The application of chromatography, mass spectrometry, and electrochemistry [199] HPLC ICP MS and HPLC MS/MS [156] ESI MS and MALDI [162] micellar electrokinetic chromatography, NMR, and MS [167] AAS, ESI MS, and CD spectroscopy [179] SEC IC ICP MS and EC ESI MS [180] and NMR and HPLC [229] are examples of such approaches. 

Application Qearly one important application of microporous materials in which the effectiveness is critically dependent on the monodispersity of the pores is the sieving of proteins. In order that an ultrafiltration membrane have high selectivity for proteins on the basis of size, the pore dimensions must first of all be on the order of 25 - ioOA, which is the size range provided by typical cubic phases. In addition to this, one important goal in the field of microporous matmals is the attainment of the narrowest possible pore size distribution, enabling isloation of proteins of a very specific molecular weight, for example. Applications in which separation of proteins by molecular weight are of proven or potential importance are immunoadsorption process, hemodialysis, purification of proteins, and microencapsulation of functionally-specific cells. 

---