Introduction to membrane separation

1. Effective separation of the final product during a chemical process is vital for making the
operation economical.
2. However, there are certain substances which are difficult and hence expensive to
separate. Some of the examples in this case are-
a. Finely dispersed solids with the following properties
i. Compressible nature.
ii. Density close to the liquid in which they are dispersed.
iii. High viscosity.
iv. Gelatinous nature
b. Low molecular weight and non-volatile organics.
c. Biological materials, which are very sensitive to their physical and chemical
environment.
3. With development of industries based on biotechnology and use of sophisticated
processes in food industries, the processing of the above mentioned materials is
increasingly becoming important.
4. The processing of these materials is motivated from the nature’s ability to separate
biologically active materials by using natural membranes.
5. Membrane separation as a separation technology was developed in 1960’s. Some of the
advantages of this separation technology are listed below.
a. Operations at ambient temperatures.
b. Relatively low capital and running cost.
c. Modular construction.
6. In a typical membrane separation operation, can be understood through the following
points.
a. A semipermeable membrane acts as a barrier between two immiscible phases and
controls the flow of components between the two phases.
b. There could be two liquid phases, two gaseous phases or a liquid and a gas phase.

Classification of membrane processes

1. The membrane processes are classified into the following six categories.
a. Gas diffusion in porous solids
 b. Gas permeation in a membrane.
c. Liquid permeation.
d. Reverse osmosis.
e. Ultrafiltration membrane process.
f. Gel permeation chromatography.
2. Gas diffusion in porous solids can be described through the following points
a. Membrane is a microporous solid.
b. Gas phase is present on both the sides of the membrane.
c. The gas molecules diffuse through the membrane at a rate which depends upon
the pore size and the molecular weights.
d. The diffusion process is analogous to the diffusion through porous solids.
3. Gas permeation in a membrane is explain through the following points.
a. The membrane in this process is a polymeric membrane.
b. The solute gas, first dissolves in the membrane and then diffuse through it to the
other gas phase.
c. In this case, separation occurs as each type of gas molecules diffuse through the
membrane at a different rate.
4. The following points can be noted for liquid permeation.
a. This is also called as dialysis.
b. The membrane is a porous membrane and it separates two liquid phase or a liquid
phase and a vapour phase.
c. In this case, small solute molecules from liquid diffuse through the porous
membrane to the other phase, under the influence of concentration gradient.
d. Large solute molecules can hardly pass through the porous membrane.
e. In some cases, an emf difference across the membrane is imposed to cause the
separation of ions. This process is called as electro dialysis.
5. For reverse osmosis, the following points can be noted
a. A semipermeable membrane separates solution from a pure solvent.
b. Under the influence of chemical potential gradient, solvent diffuses into the
solution. This process is called as osmosis.
 c. If a pressure is applied on the solution side, causes the flow of solvent in direction
reverse to the flow in case of osmosis. Thus, under the influence of the pressure
difference, the solvent moves from the solution to the solvent phase. This process
is called as the reverse osmosis.
6. The following points can be noted for ultrafiltration membrane processes.
a. Pressure is used to obtain a separation of molecules by a semipermeable
polymeric membrane.
b. The separation is achieved on the basis of molecular size, shape or chemical
structure.
c. High molecular weight solutes such as proteins, polymers, colloidal materials are
generally separated by using this membrane technology.
7. The following points can be noted for gel permeation chromatography.
a. A porous gel is used as a membrane.
b. This membrane retards the diffusion of high molecular weight solutes.
c. The driving force is the concentration difference.

Membrane modules
Membrane equipment, used for various membrane separation operations, are available in the
form of modules.
1. The area of the membranes in these modules vary in the range 1 𝑚2 to 20 𝑚2.
2. These modules may be connected in series of parallel configuration to form a membrane
separation plant.
3. The four most common types of membrane modules are-
a. Tubular.
b. Flat sheet.
c. Spiral wound.
d. Hollow fibre.
4. The following points can be noted for the tubular membrane module.
a. In this module, the membrane is cast on the inside of a porous support tube which
is often housed in a perforated stainless steel pipe.
 b. Individual modules contain a cluster of tubes in series held within a stainless steel
permeate shroud. The schematic of tubular membrane module is shown in the
Figure 1.

Figure 1 Tubular membrane module

c. The tubes are generally 10 to 25 𝑚𝑚 in diameter and 1 − 6 𝑚 in length.

10000.
d. The feed is pumped through the tubes with a Reynold’s number greater than

e. Tubular membrane modules can be easily cleaned.

f. The main disadvantages are relatively low membrane surface area and their high
volumetric hold-up.
5. The following points can be noted for the flat sheet membrane module.
a. This module consists of annular membrane discs of outer diameter 0.3 𝑚 placed
on either side of polysulphone support plates.
b. These plates also provide channels through which permeate can be withdrawn.
c. The assemblies of membrane and supporting plates are separated from each other
by spacer plates.
d. The spacer plates have central and peripheral holes, through which the feed is
directed to the surface of the membranes with laminar flow.
e. The feed enters at the one end of the membrane module, while the retentate is
removed at the other end.
f. A single module contains a membrane area of 19 𝑚2.
g. The permeate collected from each membrane pair, due to this the damaged
membranes can be easily identified. But replacements of membranes required
dismantling of the entire module.
 h. These modules are easy to fabricate and the membrane area is well defined.
i. However, these modules provide very small membrane area per unit volume.
j. Commercial modules are used for producing oxygen enriched air for medical
applications.
k. The flat sheet membrane module is shown in the Figure 2.

Figure 2 Flat sheet membrane module

(Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Vol. 2)
6. The following points can be noted for the spiral wound membrane modules.
a. It consists of several flat membranes separated by mesh separators and formed
into Swiss roll.
b. The edges of the membrane are sealed to each other, and also to a central
perforated tube. This produces a cylindrical module which is then installed within
a pressure tube.
c. The feed enters at the one end of the pressure tube and on its way, it encounters
several narrow feed channels formed between the adjacent sheets of the
membrane.
d. The permeate spirals towards the perforated central tube for collection.
 e. A typical spiral wound membrane module has a diameter of 0.1 𝑚 and a length
of about 0.9 𝑚 and it contains a memebrane area of about 5 𝑚2.
f. These modules make better use of space as compared to the tubular and flat sheet
modules.
g. The most important drawbacks of this module are that it is prone to fouling and it
is difficult to clean.
h. The spiral wound membrane module is schematically shown in the Figure 3.

Figure 3 Spiral wound membrane module

(Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Vol. 2)

7. The following points can be noted for the hollow fibre membrane module.
a. In this module, the membranes are in the form of a very small diameter hollow
fibres.
b. The internal diameter fo these fibres ranges from 100 to 500 𝜇𝑚, while the
outer diameter ranges from 200 to 1000 𝜇𝑚. The length of the fibres
ranges from 3 𝑡𝑜 5 𝑚.
c. Thousands of these hollow fibres are bound together at each end into a tube sheet
that a surrounded by a metal shell having a diameter of 0.1 to 0.2 𝑚. The
hollow fibres are closed at one end of the tube bundle, while they are open at the
other end. Thus, this structure resembles a shell and tube heat exchanger.
d. A high pressure feed enters the shell side at one end of the module, while it leaves
at the other end.
 e. The permeate flows inside the fibre counter currently to the shell side flow and is
collected in a chamber where the open ends of the fibres terminate.
f. A typical hollow fibre membrane module is schematically shown in the Figure 4.

Figure 4. The schematic of hollow fibre membrane module

(Christie J. Geankoplis, Transport Processes and Unit Operations)

Membrane Configurations
1. The various membrane modules discussed in the previous section, can be arranged in
various configurations to produce a plant of required separation capacity. The three
types of configurations are listed below.
a. Batch recirculation system.
b. Feed and bleed systems.
c. Continuous single pass system.
2. The following point can be noted for the batch circulation system.
a. This is the simplest configuration which involves a basic pump recirculation
loop. This is schematically shown in the Figure 5.
b. The feed is concentrated by pumping it from the tank and across the membrane
in the module at an appropriate velocity.
c. The partially concentrated retentate is recycled into the tank for further
processing while the permeate is stored or discarded as required.
 d. In cross flow filtration applications, the product washing is frequently
necessary and is achieved by a process known as diafiltration.
e. In diafiltration, the wash water is added to the tank at a rate equal to the
permeate rate.

Figure 5 Batch circulation system

(Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Vol. 2)
3. The following points can be noted for the feed and bleed system.
a. The feed is pumped from a feed tank through the membrane module.
b. Initially, the retentate is totally recycled and when the concentration of the solute
in the loop goes to the desired level, a fraction of the loop is continuously bled
off.
c. The feed to the loop is controlled at a rate equal to the permeate plus retentate rate.
d. The system is schematically shown in the Figure 6.

Figure 6 The feed and bleed system

(Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Vol. 2)
 e. The desired concentration of the solute is continuously obtained and the feed
is continuously fed to the system.
f. The area of the membrane required for a given capacity, is higher as compared
to that of the batch operation.
g. In case of large scale plants, multiple stages are operated in series, where the
total membrane area required is less than that in a single stage operation. One
such system is shown in the Figure 7.

Figure 7 Multiple-stage feed and bleed system.

(Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Vol. 2)
h. As compared to the batch systems, the feed and bleed systems have the
following advantages.
i. The residence time, volume hold-up and tank volume are less.
ii. The effective operating time is longer.
4. The following points can be noted for the continuous single pass system.
a. In this system, the membrane modules are arranged in series to for multiple stages.
b. As the feed moves through these stages, the concertation of the feed gradually
increase along the length of the stages. The schematic for this system is shown in
the Figure 8.
c. The feed reaches its final concertation only in the last stage.
d. There is no recycle and the system has a low residence time
e. Such systems are used in large scale reverse-osmosis desalination plants.
 Figure 8 Continuous single pass system
(Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Vol.
2)