EFFECT OF FLUIDIZED-BED ON PERMEATE FLUX IN CERAMIC MEMBRANE CROSS-FLOW MICROFILTRATION

The microfiltration of a model fluid on an a-alumina microfiltration t ubular membrane in the presence of a fluidized bed has been examined. Following the description of the basic characteristic of alumina tubul ar membranes, model dispersion and spherical particles used, some comm ents on the experimental system and experimental results for different microfiltration systems are presented. From the analysis of experimen tal results it may be concluded that the use of turbulence-promoting a gents resulted in a significant increase of permeate flux through the membrane. It was found out that the optimum porosity of fluidized bed for which the maximum values of permeate flux were reached is approxim ately 0.8.