INFLUENCE OF POLYDISPERSITY ON THE HYDRAULIC BEHAVIOR OF COLLOIDAL FOULING LAYERS ON MEMBRANES - PERTURBATIONS ON THE BEHAVIOR OF THE IDEALCOLLOIDAL LAYER

The effect that a mixture's polydispersity has on layers formed during filtration has been examined theoretically and experimentally. For th e case of uncharged particles, polydispersity causes higher voidages t han in monodisperse mixtures. Over a broad range of polydispersity the packing is similar, except when the possibility of filling of interst ices exists. In the case of charged particles, similar effects are see n, both between monodisperse and polydisperse cases, and with the vari ation of polydispersity. Less fine structure, however, can be seen her e than for uncharged particles. The calculated trends have also been f ound experimentally. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.