Abstract
Enhancement of the permeate flux due to reduction of cake layer resistance by air-liquid twophase flow in a cross flow spiral wound microfiltration membrane has been investigated. Experiments were carried out with two different suspension systems, namely baker’s yeast suspension with a dry mass concentration of 5.4 kg m-3 and the colloidal suspension of starch and bacteria having a dry mass concentration of 3.41 kg m-3. An air-liquid two-phase flow was generated by injecting the air at the inlet of the membrane module and was fed into a horizontally mounted assembly of a spiral wound microfiltration membrane. The effect of air dispersion was studied on flux enhancement, specific cake layer resistance and loading of cake mass on the membrane surface. This study shows that by air dispersion, the permeate flux can be enhanced up to 60 percent for the colloidal suspension of starch and bacteria while a flux enhancement of 40 percent was achieved for yeast suspension. The specific cake layer resistance reduced by a factor of 10 for both of the suspensions when air was injected into the feed stream. The results of this study depict that the technique of air dispersion is effective in increasing the permeate flux for the suspension systems containing below and above micron sized particulates.
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