Separation Science and Technology, Vol.41, No.14, 3169-3185, 2006
Dimensional analysis of crossflow microfiltration data
A new approach to correlating crossflow microfiltration (CFMF) data based on dimensional analysis is presented. The steady state flux was assumed to be a function of the trans-membrane pressure (Delta P), the crossflow velocity (u), the particle concentration (c), filtrate viscosity (mu), and membrane resistance (R-m). Correlations of the form J/u = K(Delta P/cu(2))(a) (Delta P/mu uR(m))(b) were tested on three sets of published data: one for CFMF of dried yeast suspensions in a laminar flow hollow fiber module, one for dried yeast suspensions in a turbulent flow tubular module and one for suspensions of latex particles in a laminar flow flat sheet module. The R-2 values for the fits of the correlations to the data were 0.98, 0.94, and 0.91 respectively.