Direct observation at the microscale of particle deposition during the first stage of the microfiltration process

Alberto Valencia (1, 2) , Claude Le Men (1) , Christophe Ellero (1) , Christine Lafforgue-Baldas (1) , Philippe Schmitz (1) , Jeffrey F. Morris

1 LISBP - Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et des Procédés
2 FERMAT - Fédération de Recherche Fluides, Energie, Réacteurs, Matériaux et Transferts

Particle deposition at pore scale during membrane filtration has been studied. A specially designed microfiltration set-up, including a filtration membrane composed of slots alignment, was used to perform in-situ, real time measurements of the particle concentration and cake growth during filtration of spherical latex particles. The approach allows the microscale phenomena to be related to macroscopic features. The measurements were obtained by direct observation from the side, using video imaging. A dedicated image processing code was developed to analyze the filtration imaging; cake growth monitoring as well as particle tracking and velocimetry are performed using this tool. The image analysis combined with pressure measurements allowed a thorough evaluation of system performance, and has proven effective for filtration analysis of more complex suspensions. The membrane geometry was shown to have a pronounced influence on the formation of the first deposited layers, and this effect persists throughout the later cake growth for the model micro-particles.

Mots clés: micro-filtration; membrane fouling; cake formation; microsystem; pore protection; membrane filtration; microparticle

Mots clés: filtration sur membrane; microparticule; latex

Domaines: Polymères

Alberto Valencia, Claude Le Men, Christophe Ellero, Christine Lafforgue-Baldas, Philippe Schmitz, et al.. Direct observation at the microscale of particle deposition during the first stage of the microfiltration process. Journal of Membrane Science, 2020, 599, pp.1-9. ⟨10.1016/j.memsci.2020.117823⟩. ⟨hal-02497712⟩