Inorganic Membrane Filtration, Modeling Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration

Abstract Inorganic membranes for microfiltration and ultrafiltration are mainly ceramic based. Ceramic membranes are sintered with metal oxide powders, and the pores formed among particles provide the separation media. This article presents a basic framework for modeling microfiltration and ultrafiltration and to optimize the membrane design. Here, the relationship between water permeability and membrane microstructure parameters (pore size, thickness, and porosity) was built up. Then, the model was developed for microfiltration and ultrafiltration of micrometer‐sized and nanosized particle suspensions, respectively. The predicted results show good agreement with experimental data of filtration flux with time.