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The MBR Book: Principles and Applications of Membrane

The MBR Book: Principles and Applications of Membrane

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3µm<br />

(a) (b)<br />

membrane is chemically cleaned (Section 2.1.4.3), <strong>and</strong> should ideally <strong>of</strong>fer some<br />

resistance to fouling.<br />

Whilst, in principal, any polymer can be used to form a membrane, only a limited<br />

number <strong>of</strong> materials are suitable for the duty <strong>of</strong> membrane separation, the most<br />

common being:<br />

● polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)<br />

● polyethylsulphone (PES)<br />

● polyethylene (PE)<br />

● polypropylene (PP)<br />

Fundamentals 25<br />

Figure 2.3 Anisotropic UF membranes: (a) polymeric (thickness <strong>of</strong> “skin” indicated) <strong>and</strong> (b) ceramic<br />

(by kind permission <strong>of</strong> Ionics (a) <strong>and</strong> Pall (b))<br />

Rejection rate (%)<br />

120<br />

100<br />

0<br />

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25<br />

All the above polymers can be formed, through specific manufacturing techniques,<br />

into membrane materials having desirable physical properties, <strong>and</strong> they each have<br />

reasonable chemical resistance. However, they are also hydrophobic, which makes<br />

the susceptible to fouling by hydrophobic matter in the bioreactor liquors they are<br />

filtering. This normally necessitates surface modification <strong>of</strong> the base material to produce<br />

a hydrophilic surface using such techniques as chemical oxidation, organic<br />

80<br />

60<br />

40<br />

20<br />

Diameter <strong>of</strong> uniform latex (µm)<br />

Figure 2.4 Surface <strong>of</strong> membrane <strong>and</strong> pore-size distribution with respect to rejection <strong>of</strong> homodispersed<br />

latex (by kind permission <strong>of</strong> Asahi-Kasei)

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