Conventional devices used in industrial emulsification processes disperse the inner phase by droplet disruption of high energetic laminar or turbulent flow. Membrane emulsification is different because small droplets are directly formed at the surface of a microporous membrane. Energy consumption of the process is lower, and the stresses on the system at the membrane surface and inside the pores are smaller. This allows processing of shear-sensitive substances. The result of the emulsification process can be described by the mean droplet size and the flux of the disperse phase. Among other parameters, pore size of the membrane, pressure of the disperse phase, and adsorption kinetics of the emulsifier influence the results of emulsification. The faster the emulsifier molecules adsorb at newly formed interfaces, the smaller the droplets of the emulsion produced. Transmembrane pressure greatly influences the flux but causes little change in droplet size. (C) 1998 Academic Press.
