Performance characterization and CFD analysis of a novel shear enhanced membrane module in ultrafiltration of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) Original Research Article

In this article, design, performance characterization and hydrodynamic simulation of a novel shear enhanced membrane module has been presented. Considering its structural similarity with the well known spinning basket reactor the module has been named as Spinning Basket Membrane (SBM) module. The module is unique in terms of its hydrodynamic cleaning facility. For the present study, the test fluid was the aqueous solution of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) of different concentrations. And the process was the ultrafiltration (UF) of the same using Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) membrane of 50,000 Molecular weight Cut off (MWCO). In addition to feed concentration, the effect of transmembrane pressure and basket rotational speed on permeate flux as well as on rejection has been studied. The results of a detailed hydrodynamic simulation has been also presented in order to correctly understand the hydrodynamic picture inside the module. From the perspective of performance rating it is to be noted that after 5 h of continuous run the final regenerated flux was found to be within 90% of its initial counterpart (i.e. flux at t = 0).