This technique for measurement of cake thickness makes use of a He-Ne laser
beam and an optical captor; it relies on the absorption of light by the ca
ke. Measurement of the thickness is made at a single point on the membrane
and it is assumed that the cake build-up is uniform along the whole area of
the membrane. This technique estimates the growth of cake under real cross
flow microfiltration conditions without disturbing the deposition phenomena
. The objective of the present study is to validate the dynamic measurement
of cake formation and to understand the fundamental mechanisms of fouling
in crossflow filtration processes.