Optical Absorption Technique in the Study of Membrane Filtration Processes

Abstract : The mass transfer experiments employ a dyed solute in water, a transparent membrane on one wall of a cell or a plane flow channel, and transparent walls. Measurements of the attenuation of a collimated beam of light give quantitative information of the concentration boundary layer formed adjacent to the membrane, in terms of the integrated concentration distribution. The technique is verififed against numerical predictions for the transient one-dimensional diffusion-convection problem in a dead-end filtration process in the closed cell. It is then applied to the steady two-dimensional problem of cross-flow filtration in the flow channel. Here, the socalled striping phenomenon is also quantified. (Author)