Experimental Study of the Effect of Membrane Porosity on Membrane Absorption Process

Abstract

Five kinds of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) flat membranes with different porosity and micro‐pore size were chosen to carry out the unsteady state gas absorption experiments. The influence of the membrane porosity and micro‐pore size on the membrane absorption process was investigated. Experimental results showed that the membrane porosity had an impact on the membrane absorption process, and the degree of this impact depended on the absorption system and the membrane pore size. For a rapid mass transfer process, the porosity affected the mass transfer more significantly, while for the slow mass transfer process the porosity almost did not affect the mass transfer. The modeling analysis showed that the porosity affected the concentration profile of the solute near the membrane surface on the liquid side, which led to the reduction of the mass transfer area of the membrane. Hence, the apparent effect on the mass transfer of the membrane absorption process.