In-situ investigation of wetting patterns in polymeric multibore membranes via magnetic resonance imaging

Wypysek, Denis; Kalde, Anna; Pradellok, Florian; Weßling, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2020.119026

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…However, the quantification of their porous structures, their related permeation properties, and their hydrodynamic operation conditions in modules is challenging due to the emerging micro and macro-voids, the presence of porosity gradients in the porous structure, and the incorporation of multiple channels in one porous monolithic structure, each of them influencing each other. Both the formation of the porous structure during the fabrication and the permeation and filtration behavior of multibore membranes [17] are subjected to current research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does porosity heterogeneity affect the transport properties of multibore filtration membranes?

Wypysek,

Rall,

Neef

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The prediction of pressure and flow distributions inside porous membranes is important if the geometry deviates from singlebore tubular geometries. This task remains challenging, especially when considering local porosity variations caused by lumenand shell-side membrane skins and macro-and micro-void structures, all of them present in multibore membranes.This study analyzes pure water forward and reverse permeation and backwashing phenomena for a polymeric multibore membrane with spatially-varying porosity and permeability properties using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The heterogeneity of porosity distribution is experimentally characterized by scanning electron microscopy scans and reconstructed cuboids of X-ray micro-computed tomography scans. The reconstructed cuboids are used to determine porosity, pore size distribution, and intrinsic permeability in the membrane's porous structure in all spatial directions. These position-dependent properties are then applied to porous media flow simulations of the whole membrane domain with different properties for separation layer, support structure, and outside skin layer. Various cases mimicking the pure water permeation, fouling, and backwashing behavior of the membrane are simulated and compared to previously obtained MRI measurements.This work reveals (a) anisotropic permeability values and isoporosity in all directions and (b) differing contributions of each lumen channel to the total membrane performance, depending on the membrane-skin's properties. This study encourages to pertain the quest of understanding the interaction of spatially distributed membrane properties and the overall membrane module performance of multibore membranes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does porosity heterogeneity affect the transport properties of multibore filtration membranes?

Wypysek,

Rall,

Neef

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…However, the quantification of their porous structures, their related permeation properties, and their hydrodynamic operation conditions in modules is challenging due to the emerging micro and ˚Corresponding author: manuscripts.cvt@avt.rwth-aachen.de macro-voids, the presence of porosity gradients in the porous structure, and the incorporation of multiple channels in one porous monolithic structure, each of them influencing each other. Both the formation of the porous structure during the fabrication and the permeation and filtration behavior of multibore membranes [17] are subjected to current research. The performance of multibore membranes is well-studied experimentally [18][19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[23] For this technique, however, the authors dried the membranes before the measurement. In contrast, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can study internal flux and pathways and fouling phenomena of multibore membranes in-situ and non-invasively [17,[24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, fouling patterns follow these hydrodynamic conditions. In our latest work [17], we used MRI to analyze the influence of porosity gradients and several prewetting agents on the initial wetting behavior of multibore membranes. This study showed significant differences in wetting behavior due to the entrapment of the pre-wetting agents in differently sized pores and indicates that microscopic spacial porosity distribution affects macroscopic transport behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How does porosity heterogeneity affect the transport properties of multibore filtration membranes?

Wypysek

Rall

Neef

et al. 2021

Journal of Membrane Science

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The prediction of pressure and flow distributions inside porous membranes is important if the geometry deviates from singlebore tubular geometries. This task remains challenging, especially when considering local porosity variations caused by lumenand shell-side membrane skins and macro-and micro-void structures, all of them present in multibore membranes.This study analyzes pure water forward and reverse permeation and backwashing phenomena for a polymeric multibore membrane with spatially-varying porosity and permeability properties using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The heterogeneity of porosity distribution is experimentally characterized by scanning electron microscopy scans and reconstructed cuboids of X-ray micro-computed tomography scans. The reconstructed cuboids are used to determine porosity, pore size distribution, and intrinsic permeability in the membrane's porous structure in all spatial directions. These position-dependent properties are then applied to porous media flow simulations of the whole membrane domain with different properties for separation layer, support structure, and outside skin layer. Various cases mimicking the pure water permeation, fouling, and backwashing behavior of the membrane are simulated and compared to previously obtained MRI measurements. This work reveals (a) anisotropic permeability values and isoporosity in all directions and (b) differing contributions of each lumen channel to the total membrane performance, depending on the membrane-skin's properties. This study encourages to pertain the quest of understanding the interaction of spatially distributed membrane properties and the overall membrane module performance of multibore membranes.

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“…Post-processing was performed with Matlab. The measuring technique is explained in more detail in our previous studies[57][58][59][60][61].…”

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confidence: 99%

A mini-module with built-in spacers for high-throughput ultrafiltration

Baitalow,

Wypysek,

Leuthold

et al. 2022

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Ultrafiltration membrane modules suffer from a permeate flow decrease arising during filtration and caused by concentration polarization and fouling in, e.g., fermentation broth purification. Such performance losses are frequently mitigated by manipulating the hydrodynamic conditions at the membrane-fluid interface using, e.g., mesh spacers acting as static mixers. This additional element increases manufacturing complexity while improving mass transport in general, yet accepting their known disadvantages such as less transport in dead zones. However, the shape of such spacers is limited to the design of commercially available spacer geometries. Here, we present a methodology to design an industrially relevant mini-module with an optimized built-in 3D spacer structure in a flat-sheet ultrafiltration membrane module to eliminate the spacer as a separate part. Therefore, the built-in structures have been conceptually implemented through an in-silico design in compliance with the specifications for an injection molding process. Ten built-in structures were investigated in a digital twin of the mini-module by 3D-CFD simulations to select two options, which were then compared to the empty feed channel regarding mass transfer. Subsequently, the simulated flux increase was experimentally verified during bovine serum albumin (BSA) filtration. The new built-in sinusoidal corrugation outperforms conventional mesh spacer inlays by up to 30 % higher permeation rates. The origin of these improvements is correlated to the flow characteristics inside the mini-module as visualized online and in-situ by low-field and high-field magnetic resonance imaging velocimetry (flow-MRI) during pure water permeation.

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In-situ investigation of wetting patterns in polymeric multibore membranes via magnetic resonance imaging

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

How does porosity heterogeneity affect the transport properties of multibore filtration membranes?

How does porosity heterogeneity affect the transport properties of multibore filtration membranes?

How does porosity heterogeneity affect the transport properties of multibore filtration membranes?

A mini-module with built-in spacers for high-throughput ultrafiltration

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