Experimental investigations of cake characteristics in crossflow microfiltration

The fundamental analysis of deposit characteristics requires the knowledge of a size key that is difficult to obtain in crossflow filtration, which is the geometric characterization of the deposit and most especially its thic kness. The measurement in situ of this size with an optical captor which wi ll not alter the characteristics of the deposit allows to have complete inf ormation on deposit characteristics. The effects of different operating par ameters on permeability, resistance, porosity and compressibility are discu ssed and lead to that the initial layers of the deposit constitute the dete rmining resistance. The deposit is not homogeneous and the compressibility coefficient depends on concentration. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.