Selective and enhanced mass separation in hollow fiber membranes with facilitated ion-pair transport

Abstract

The introduction of carrier species into liquid membranes in a mass separation device can give enhanced mass transfer rates and high selectivity. For fully developed, one-dimensional, laminar flow of a Newtonian fluid in a hollow-fiber mass separator with equilibrium facilitated ion-pair transport inside the membrane, the mass transfer rate and selectivity in the mass separator is analyzed numerically. The effects of diffusion and reaction parameters on the performance of mass separators are discussed as a function of the wall Sherwood number, the maximum facilitation factor for ion-pair transport, and the dimensionless equilibrium constant. The facilitated ion-pair reactive membrane system gives more efficient mass transfer and higher selectivity for small wall Sherwood numbers than for large wall Sherwood numbers.