Ultrafiltration membrane technology

Pabby AK. et al. Pilot plant experience of ultrafiltration membrane technology for removal of activity from fuel pond water in reprocessing plant at DAE Symposium on Nuclear and Radiochemistry (NUCAR-2005), Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, March 15-18, 2005. 

The slow rate of transition from stage (h) to stage (d) in Figure 2 is an indispensable condition in the solvent-cast process of ultrafiltration membrane technology. Stage (d) is a kind of micro-phase separation, which is apparently metastahle. The transitions (h) to (c) and (c) to (d) are governed hy the mobility and the surface free energy of the particle. 

BCC Research. 2010. Ultrafiltration membranes Technologies and the U.S. market. Report code MST044C. 

Furukawa, D. (2002). Global status of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membrane technology. Watermark (17). MEDRC (Newsletter). Muscat, Oman. 

One unique appHcation area for PSF is in membrane separation uses. Asymmetric PSF membranes are used in ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and ambulatory hemodialysis (artificial kidney) units. Gas-separation membrane technology was developed in the 1970s based on a polysulfone coating appHed to a hoUow-fiber support. The PRISM (Monsanto) gas-separation system based on this concept has been a significant breakthrough in gas-separation... 

Ultrafiltration is a pressure-driven filtration separation occurring on a molecular scale (see Dialysis Filtration Hollow-fibermembranes Membrane TECHNOLOGY REVERSE osMOSis). Typically, a liquid including small dissolved molecules is forced through a porous membrane. Large dissolved molecules, coUoids, and suspended soHds that caimot pass through the pores are retained. 

Most ultrafiltration membranes are porous, asymmetric, polymeric stmctures produced by phase inversion, ie, the gelation or precipitation of a species from a soluble phase (see Membrane technology). 

Whey has been used ia some substitute dairy products but aot as a source of proteia. Whey proteias have beea used ia dairy substitutes only siace the commercialisation of ultrafiltration (qv) technology. Membranes are used that retain proteia and permit water, lactose, and some minerals to pass through as permeate. Proteia coaceatrates are available from both acid and sweet whey and ia coaceatratioas of 35—80 wt % proteia. Whey proteia isolates are commercially available having proteia >90 wt%. The cost of these isolates is too high, however, to make them economical for substitute dairy foods. 

Reverse Osmosis and Ultrafiltration. Reverse osmosis (qv) (or hyperfiltration) and ultrafilttation (qv) ate pressure driven membrane processes that have become well estabUshed ia pollution control (89—94). There is no sharp distinction between the two both processes remove solutes from solution. Whereas ultrafiltration usually implies the separation of macromolecules from relatively low molecular-weight solvent, reverse osmosis normally refers to the separation of the solute and solvent molecules within the same order of magnitude in molecular weight (95) (see also Membrane technology). 

Ultrafiltration membranes are commercially fabricated in sheet, capillary and tubular forms. The liquid to be filtered is forced into the assemblage and dilute permeate passes perpendicularly through the membrane while concentrate passes out the end of the media. This technology is useful for the recovery and recycle of suspended solids and macromolecules. Excellent results have been achieved in textile finishing applications and other situations where neither entrained solids that could clog the filter nor dissolved ions that would pass through are present. Membrane life can be affected by temperature, pH, and fouling. 

Membranes. Photopolymer chemistry is being applied to the design and manufacture of a variety of membrane materials. In these applications, photopolymer technology is used to precisely define the microscopic openings in the membrane as it is being formed or to modify an existing membrane. Some of the applications of photopolymer chemistry to membranes include the modification of ultrafiltration membranes (78) and the manufacture of amphiphilic (79), gas permeable (80), untrafiltration (81), ion-selective electrode (82) and reverse osmosis membranes. 

Larbot, A., J. A. Alary, C. Guizard, L. Cot and J. Gillot. 1987. New inorganic ultrafiltration membranes Preparation and characterization. Int. J. High Technology Ceramics 3 145-51. 

Raw material recovery can be achieved through solvent extraction, steam-stripping, and distillation operations. Dilute streams can be concentrated in evaporators and then recovered. Recently, with the advent of membrane technology, reverse osmosis (RO) and ultrafiltration (UF) can be used to recover and concentrate active ingredients [14]. 

Membrane extraction offers attractive alternatives to conventional solvent extraction through the use of dialysis or ultrafiltration procedures (41). The choice of the right membrane depends on a number of parameters such as tlie degree of retention of the analyte, flow rate, some environmental characteristics, and tlie analyte recovery. Many early methods used flat, supported membranes, but recent membrane technology has focused on the use of hollow fibers (42-45). Although most membranes are made of inert polymers, undesired adsorption of analytes onto the membrane surface may be observed, especially in dilute solutions and when certain buffer systems are applied. 

Most ultrafiltration membranes are porous, asymmetric, polymeric structures produced by phase inversion, i.e., the gelation or precipitation of a species from a soluble phase. See also Membrane Separations Technology. Membrane structure is a function of the materials used (polymer composition, molecular weight distribution, solvent system, etc) and the mode of preparation (solution viscosity, evaporation time, humidity, etc.). Commonly used polymers include cellulose acetates, polyamides, polysulfoncs, dyncls (vinyl chlondc-acrylonitrile copolymers) and puly(vinylidene fluoride). 

M.C. Porter, Ultrafiltration, in Handbook of Industrial Membrane Technology, M.C. Porter (ed.), Noyes Publication, Park Ridge, NJ, pp. 136-259 (1990). 

B.R. Breslau, A.J. Testa, B.A. Milnes and G. Medjanis, Advances in Hollow Fiber Ultrafiltration Technology, in Ultrafiltration Membranes and Applications, A.R. Cooper (ed.), Plenum Press, New York, NY, pp. 109-128 (1980). 

B.R. Breslau, P.H. Larsen, B.A. Milnes and S.L. Waugh, The Application of Ultrafiltration Technology in the Food Processing Industry, The 1988 Sixth Annual Membrane Technology/Planning Conference, Cambridge, MA (November, 1988). 

B.R. Breslau and R.G. Buckley, The Ultrafiltration of Whitewater , An Application Whose Time Flas Come , The 1992 Tenth Annual Membrane Technology/Separations Planning Conference, Newton, MA (October, 1992). 

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. 

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