Water Flux Reduction in Microfiltration Membranes: A Pore Network Study

Abstract

A 3D pore network model was developed to simulate the removal of dextran from water. Advanced scanning electron microscopy combined with focused ion beam analysis was used to obtain the sizes of the different pore networks that represent the microscopic structure of a porous membrane. The required input transport parameters for modeling were obtained by performing dynamic experiments on dextran adsorption within the pores of a polysulfone membrane. The simulated flux changes demonstrated a good agreement with the experimental data showing that such a model can be used to study the effects of various parameters during the process. Specifically, the results showed an increase in the applied pressure, decreased membrane thickness, increased pore size, while small sizes of contaminant molecules lead to a rise of the flux passing through the membrane.

Structure and Performance of Poly(vinylidene chloride‐co‐vinyl chloride) Porous Membranes with Different Additives

“…The following explanation might illustrate the changing numbers and size of pores by introducing SiO 2 nanoparticles in the membrane casting solutions. The finger‐like cavities were produced in the sublayer of the membranes, owing to instantaneous demixing because of the high mutual affinity between DMAc and water . Two effects were generated by introducing SiO 2 nanoparticles in the membrane casting solutions.…”

Insight into particle retention and clogging in porous media; a pore scale study using lattice Boltzmann method

“…A wide range of environmental and engineering problems such as subsurface applications depend on transport of migrating solid particles and their deposition and clogging of the media ( Vu et al, 2019 ;Kacimov and Obnosov, 2019 ). This includes treatment of septic tank effluent and wastewater ( Jones and Taylor, 1965 ;Bouma, 1975 ;Beach and McCray, 2003 ;Abdoli et al, 2018aAbdoli et al, , 2018b, artificial recharges ( Okubo and Matsumoto, 1983 ;Okubo and Matsumoto, 1979 ;Zhang et al, 2015 ), biological clogging in soil ( Soleimani et al, 2009 ;Benioug et al, 2017 ), adsorption at fluid interfaces ( Zhang et al, 2012( Zhang et al, , 2013, subsurface heat storage ( Pfeiffer et al, 2000 ), spread of contaminant plumes and bioremediation ( Molz et al, 1986 ;Baveye and Valocchi, 1989 ;Vandevivere et al, 1995 ), geologic carbon sequestration , extraction of fossil energy, and in civil and environmental engineering applications. The blockage of porous media and permeability reduction of marine sediments caused by trapped fine particles is a common concern in application such as oil or natural gas extractions.…”

Modeling and Analysis of Particle Deposition Processes on PVDF Membranes Using SEM Images and Image Generation by Auxiliary Classifier Generative Adversarial Networks

“…Such a detailed description of physical relationships requires high computational expenses, solutions of complex equations, and a deep understanding of the process feed, membrane structure, solutes, and solvent properties, which are not easily available. Pore network modeling with a physical approach focuses on understanding how internal fouling affects the flux reduction and changes in porosity by adsorption in the internal structure of the membranes [13]. The assumption of pores and throats as simple geometrical structures is one of the main drawbacks of conventional modeling, as the success of pore-network models depends on the adequate representation of the real pore space [14].…”