화학공학소재연구정보센터
Separation Science and Technology, Vol.48, No.2, 215-222, 2012
Effect of Ultrasound on Membrane Filtration and Cleaning Operations
The impact of ultrasound (US) on membrane filtration and cleaning were studied and compared at various operating parameters of nominal pore sizes of 10 and 100 kDa membrane, trans-membrane pressure (TMP) of 100 and 140 kPa, and US frequencies of 20 kHz and 40 kHz. An average of 15%20% increase of permeability was observed when US (20 kHz) was applied to assist membrane filtration on 10 kDa membrane and 100 kPa trans-membrane pressure (TMP). However, an insignificant improvement was observed in the case of larger pore size membrane at higher TMP (140 kPa). US also augmented the membrane cleaning process effectively. Lower frequency 20 kHz US exhibited a higher flux recovery (>90%) than the high frequency 40 kHz (59%) using the 10 kDa pore size membrane with US-assisted membrane cleaning. Important factors influencing optimization of US effectiveness lie heavily on its configuration and operation. The experimental results as supported with SEM images demonstrate that US-assisted filtration and cleaning are most effective when membrane pore size, US frequency, and TMP are lower.