Characterization and modeling of radial flow membrane (RFM) module in ultrafiltration

Design, characterization and modeling of a novel radial flow membrane (RFM) module is reported in the present study. The module has been investigated in ultrafiltration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with a 30 kDa polyethersulphone (PES) membrane under steady state. The proposed semi-empirical, steady state model was validated under different parametric conditions of transmembrane pressure and bulk concentration. The model may be viewed as an extension of the well known osmotic pressure model in conjugation with Spiegler-Kedem black box model and a system specific, steady state solute balance equation. Model empiricity was introduced primarily to account for unknown entrance-exit effects and effects of membrane roughness on hydrodynamic profile. The empirical parameter was evaluated by minimizing a global objective function. The maximum absolute deviation of the model with respect to the experimental data of permeate flux was found to be well within 7%.