Permeate flow in multichannel ceramic membrane element was simulated to study numerically the effect of element configuration on its flux performance. Simple rectangular honeycomb configuration was chosen for this purpose. Under several assumptions the problem could be treated as 2-dimensional potential flow. The mathematical model was solved using a finite element method. Pressure and stream function fields were obtained as the results of calculations. The effect of several dimensionless parameters on the flux performance was discussed. It was shown that there can be found an optimal configuration for which the performance has maximum for a given ratio of active membrane layer and membrane element porous body permeabilities.