Prediction of Permeate Flux During Ultrafiltration of Polysaccharide in a Stirred Batch Cell

Ultrafiltration of polysaccharide macromolecule has been carried out in a stirred batch cell using a fully retentive membrane over a wide range of operating conditions. An unsteady state mass transfer model in conjunction with resistance-in-series model is developed using film theory. The proposed model is used to predict the transient permeate flux decline behavior in gel controlled ultrafiltration. This model is also able to quantify the variation of bulk volume as well as the bulk concentration of solute with time. The variation of viscosity as a function of solute concentration is included in the model. A model parameter is used in this model and is evaluated by optimizing the experimental flux profiles with calculated flux profiles. The model predictions are successfully compared with the experimental data. A parametric study has been performed to observe the effect of different process parameters on the filtration performance in terms of transient permeate flux decline behavior. The proposed model in general will provide a better understanding of gel controlled ultrafiltration.