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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Membr. Sci. Technol.
Sec. Membrane Applications - Liquid
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frmst.2024.1454589
This article is part of the Research Topic Workshop Emerging Separation Technologies for Water Treatment and Air filtration View all 5 articles

Pressure-Driven Polymeric Membranes Performance Prediction, New Membrane Dimensionless Number and Considerations for Effective Membrane Design, Selection, Testing and Operation

Provisionally accepted
Alexander Raymond Anim-Mensah Alexander Raymond Anim-Mensah 1,2*
  • 1 African Membrane Society (AMSIC), a Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs du Mali Abderhamane Baba Touré, Mali, Bamako, Mali
  • 2 i2i Innovation MegaHub (i2iMegaHub), Accra, Ghana

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The demand for polymeric membranes in fine chemicals, petroleum, and pharmaceuticals highlights the need to optimize organic separation systems. Enhancing performance, longevity, and cost-efficiency, while addressing chemical and mechanical instabilities, is crucial. A model was developed to relate membrane performance, indicated by the permeate solute concentration (Cpi) of species i, to the real-time compressive Young’s modulus (E) during compaction with permeation under a transmembrane pressure. Lower Cpi values signify better performance. The model integrates solvent densities, solubility parameters of the membrane, solute, solvent, and the extent of membrane constraint. It also considers membrane swelling and compaction states, along with the associated Poisson ratio, offering a comprehensive framework for predicting membrane performance. A key feature is the dimensionless parameter β, describing different operational regimes (β<1, β=1, β>1). This parameter connects membrane affinity characteristics with mechanical properties. The model's effectiveness was demonstrated using three organic separation systems, separating isoleucine from DMF, methanol, and hexane solutions, respectively, using nanofiltration membranes with low, medium, and high E values. The transmembrane pressure ranged from 0.069 to 5.52 MPa for β<1. Performance results showed System B (medium E) > System A (low E) > System C (high E), correlating with decreasing solvent-solute interactions and compaction levels. Moderate compaction, resulting in moderate membrane resistance and densification, was beneficial. Cp-β plots revealed three distinct slopes, corresponding to elastic deformation, plastic deformation, and densification of membrane polymers, guiding optimal ΔP ranges for operation. This model advances polymeric pressure-driven membrane research, providing insights into membrane selection, testing, design, and operation.

    Keywords: Membrane - Model, dimensionless number, Membrane swelling, Membrane compaction, Membrane separation

    Received: 25 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Anim-Mensah. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alexander Raymond Anim-Mensah, African Membrane Society (AMSIC), a Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs du Mali Abderhamane Baba Touré, Mali, Bamako, Mali

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.