Ultrafiltration polymers, membrane

Polymer Membranes These are used in filtration applications for fine-particle separations such as microfiltration and ultrafiltration (clarification involving the removal of l- Im and smaller particles). The membranes are made from a variety of materials, the commonest being cellulose acetates and polyamides. Membrane filtration, discussed in Sec. 22, has been well covered by Porter (in Schweitzer, op. cit., sec. 2.1). 

Solutions of macromolecules may be concentrated by means of polymer membranes of defined pore size. Applying a pressure or centrifugal force, small molecules pass the pores, whereas large molecules retain. The nominal cutoff of an ultrafiltration membrane (MWCO) helps you to select a membrane Molecules smaller than the MWCO will pass the membrane, whereas larger molecules are held back. This separation is not sharp and depends on protein conformation and solvent composition. Complete retention is achieved when using a membrane with a MWCO 1/3 to 1/5 of the molar mass of the macromolecule of interest. Figure 3.6 illustrates the separation of proteins by ultrafiltration. 

In micro- and ultrafiltrations, the mode of separation is by sieving through line pores, where microfiltration membranes filter colloidal particles and bacteria from 0.1 to 10 mm, and ultrafiltration membranes filter dissolved macromolecules. Usually, a polymer membrane, for example, cellulose nitrate, polyacrilonytrile, polysulfone, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polypropylene, poly-tretrafhioroethylene, polyamide, and polyvinylchloride, permits the passage of specific constituents of a feed stream as a permeate flow through its pores, while other, usually larger components of the feed stream are rejected by the membrane from the permeate flow and incorporated in the retentate flow [10,148,149],... 

A major new application of ceramic membranes is in the area of ultrafiltration. Ceramic membranes can outperform organic polymer... 

Coating of ultrafiltration/microfiltration membrane supports such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or polysulfone (PSF) with solutions of polymers such as poly(ether-hlocfc-amide) [51]. 

In cross-flow flltration, the wastewater flows under pressure at a fairly high velocity tangentially or across the filter medium. A thin layer of solids form on the surface of the medium, but the high liquid velocity keeps the layer from building up. At the same time, the liquid permeates the membrane producing a clear filtrate. Filter media may be ceramic, metal (e.g., sintered stainless steel or porous alumina), or a polymer membrane (cellulose acetate, polyamide, and polyacrylonitrile) with pores small enough to exclude most suspended particles. Examples of cross filtration are microfiltration with pore sizes ranging from 0.1 to 5 pm and ultrafiltration with pore sizes from 1 pm down to about 0,001 pm. 

The list of polymer membrane materials is virtually endless insofar as possiljle chemical varieties are concerned (37 ). However, the number of fundamental physical structures into which they may be formed is much more limited. For present purposes, a distinction is made between skinned and skinless membranes. However, in view of the substantial and growing evidence cited above for the existence of pores in RO and UF membranes, even this is done with trepidation. Further subdivision results in three types of skinned membrane integrally-skinned ultragel3 integrally-skinned miorogels and nonintegrally-skinned miarogele (that Is, thin film composite membranes). Such skinned membranes are utilized in gas separations, reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration. 

Virtually the entire membrane manufacture today is based on laminate structures comprising a thin barrier layer deployed upon a much thicker, highly permeable support. Most are formed of compositionaUy homogeneous polysulfone, cellulose acetate, polyamides, and various fluoropolymers by phase inversion techniques in which ultrathin films of suitably permselective material are deposited on prefabricated porous support structures. Hydrophobic polymers as polyethylene, polypropylene, or polysulfone are often used as supports. A fairly comprehensive hst of microporous and ultrafiltration commercial membranes and produced companies are presented in Refs [107-109]. A review on inorganic membranes has been given in Ref. [110]. 

In 1968, Ontario Research Foundation developed a series of segmented polyether polyurethanes as polymer membrane materials for reverse cosmosis, ultrafiltration and hemodialysis. The elastomers of recent implant studies are polyurea-urethanes( .) with modification of the synthesis limited to only one variable— the chain length of the polyether component. 

The study of gas transport in membranes has been actively pursued for over 100 years. This extensive research resulted in the development of good theories on single gas transport in polymers and other membranes. The practical use of membranes to separate gas mixtures is, however, much more recent. One well-known application has been the separation of uranium isotopes for nuclear weapon production. With few exceptions, no new, large scale applications were introduced until the late 1970 s when polymer membranes were developed of sufficient permeability and selectivity to enable their economical industrial use. Since this development is so recent, gas separations by membranes are still less well-known and their use less widespread than other membrane applications such as reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and microfiltration. In excellent reviews on gas transport in polymers as recent as 1983, no mention was made of the important developments of the last few years. For this reason, this chapter will concentrate on the more recent aspects of gas separation by membranes. Naturally, many of the examples cited will be from our own experience, but the general underlying principles are applicable to many membrane based gas separating systems. 

As permselective barriers, synthetic membranes have been employed in a variety of applications, which include dialysis, mirofiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, pervaporation, electrodialysis, and gas separation. Synthetic membranes also find special applications as permselective barriers for ion-spedfic electrodes, biosensors, controlled release, and tissue-culture growth. Some commercial polymer membranes are listed in Table 5.20. 

The majority of polymer membranes used for microfiltration and ultrafiltration of liquids are prepared by the wet phase inversion process. Such membranes exhibit a typical asymmetric structure characterized by a thin dense surface layer and a thick microporous bulk. Poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone) (PPESK) copolymers, c.f. Figure 7.10, show glass transition temperatures in the range of 263-305°C. The polymers show an outstanding chemical stability. They are soluble only in 98% H2SO4. Concentrated aqueous solutions of sodium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid, and nitric acid show no effect. ... 

Ultrafiltration uses a microporous polymer membrane, which allows water and molecules of less than some cut-off molecular weight to pass through, depending on the pore diameter, while retaining larger molecules. A typical membrane module may contain 30 ft of membrane surface area at a cost of from 8 to 20 /ft of surface area. 

Ceramic membranes, which are tougher and longer lasting than polymeric membranes, offer many advantages in ultrafiltration applications but are more than 10 times more costly than equivalent polymer membranes. Thus their use has been limited to small-scale, high-value separations that can bear this cost. One area where ceramic membranes may find a future use is clarification of chemical or refinery process streams, where their solvent resistance is needed. However, it is difficult to see a major business developing from these applications unless costs are reduced significantly. 

Separation processes such as ultrafiltration and micro filtration use porous membranes which allow the passage of molecules smaller than the membrane pore size. Ultrafiltration membranes have pore sizes from 0.001 to 0.1 )im while micro filtration membranes have pore sizes in the range of 0.02 to 10 im. The production of these membranes is almost exclusively based on non-solvent inversion method which has two essential steps the polymer is dissolved in a solvent, cast to form a film then the film is exposed to a non-solvent. Two factors determine the quality of the membrane pore size and selectivity. Selectivity is determined by how narrow the distribution of pore size is. In order to obtain membranes with good selectivity, one must control the non-solvent inversion process so that it inverts slowly. If it occurs too fast, it causes the formation of pores of different sizes which will be non-uniformly distributed. This can be prevented either by an introduction of a large number of nuclei, which are uniformly distributed in the polymer membrane or by the use of a solvent combination which regulates the rate of solvent replacement. 

If the interfadal tension is known beforehand, the maximum bubble pressure method can be used to determine the diameter of the pores in a porous membrane. Microporous polymer membranes are used to filter large molecules such as proteins, viruses, and bacteria, and the process is called ultrafiltration. The qnahty... 

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