The Influence of Operation Conditions on the Permeative Flux of (PVC/PS) Hollow Fiber Membrane

Abstract

Membranes have gained an important place in chemical technology and are used in a wide range of applications. This investigation has studied the effect of operating conditions such as temperature, trans-membrane pressure and solute concentration on the separation performance of (PVC/ PS) hollow fiber membrane, which was prepared in the laboratory from 15% (PVC) and 2% (PS) using phase inversion method. An attempt was done to investigate the ability of PVC/PS hollow fiber membrane for ultrafiltration application. A (PVP) solute was used to measure (PVP) rejection of prepared membrane.The predicted flux was found to increase from (18.88 l/m 2 .hr) to 33.05 l/m 2 .hr) when the operation temperature was increased from (10℃) to (30℃).While it increased from (28.57 l/m 2 .hr) to (263.36 l/m 2 .hr) when the operation pressure was increased from (1bar) to (3bar). It was also found to decrease from(17.97 l/m 2 .hr) to (12.20 l/m 2 .hr) with increase solute concentration from (1000ppm) to (2500ppm). The rejection efficiency was equal to (99.93%) when using (2500ppm) solute. This is considered within UF range.