Manufacture of ceramic membranes for application in demulsification process for cross-flow microfiltration

This paper describes the manufacture of tubular ceramic membranes and the study of their performance in thedemulsification of soybean oil/water emulsions. The membranes were made by iso-static pressing method andmicro and macro structurally characterized by SEM, porosimetry by mercury intrusion and determination of apparentdensity and porosity. The microfiltration tests were realized on an experimental workbench, and fluid dynamicparameters, such as transmembrane flux and pressure were used to evaluate the process relative to the oil phaseconcentration (analysed by TOC measurements) in the permeate. The results showed that the membrane withpores' average diameter of 1.36 μm achieved higher transmembrane flux than the membrane with pores' averagediameter of 0.8 μm. The volume of open pores (responsible for the permeation) was predominant in the total porosity,which was higher than 50% for all tested membranes. Concerning demulsification, the monolayer membraneswere efficacious, as the rejection coefficient was higher than 99%.