Qy. Li et al., EFFECT OF BUBBLE-SIZE AND FREQUENCY ON THE PERMEATE FLUX OF GAS SPARGED ULTRAFILTRATION WITH TUBULAR MEMBRANES, Chemical engineering journal, 67(1), 1997, pp. 71-75
Gas sparged ultrafiltration experiments are performed using a tubular
membrane module with solutions of dextran and human serum albumin (HSA
) as the test media. Air is injected, in a controlled manner with the
ability to adjust bubble size and frequency independently, into the me
mbrane module to create a gas-liquid two-phase crossflow operation. Th
e effects of bubble size and frequency on the permeate flux of the spa
rged ultrafiltration are studied experimentally. It is found that the
permeate flux increases with the bubbling frequency in the examined ra
nge. The effect of bubble size on flux can be divided into two regions
, an increasing region for smaller bubbles and a plateau region for la
rger slugs. The results are discussed on the basis of bubble wake hydr
odynamics. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.