Model-based performance analysis and scale-up of membrane adsorbers with a cassettes format designed for parallel operation

The performance of three membrane adsorber formats containing the same membrane type is comparatively analyzed. Membrane volumes range from 3 mL to 1.6 L, and above in parallel operation. Orthogonal modeling of internal flow patterns and binding properties is crucial for transferring model parameters across devices and scales. The binding rates are found to depend on the flow rate through convective transport in the macropores of the membrane. Breakthrough curves of large scale devices are successfully predicted using information acquired at smaller scales provided membrane properties, particularly binding capacity, are identical.