Hollow Fibre Membrane

Module

By,
Shweta Singh-1402011
Pranali Trivedi-1402012
Gaurav Nikam-1402022
Disha Ravipati-1402025
Harmit Pandya-1402028
Amish Chovatiya-
1402030
What is a membrane?
Membrane filtersor membranes are
microporous plastic films with specific pore size
ratings. Also known as screen, sieve or
microporousfilters,membranesretain particles or
microorganisms larger than their pore size
primarily by surface capture.[1]
Membrane Module
The practical equipment where the actual
membrane based separation occurs is known as
membrane modules.
In order to apply membranes on a technical scale,
large membrane areas are required.[2]
Why is it required?
Industrial membrane plants often require
hundreds to thousands of square metres of
membrane to perform the separation required on
a useful scale.

From an overall cost standpoint, not only is the

cost of membranes per unit area important, but
also the cost of the containment vessel into which
they are mounted.

Basically the problem is how one can pack the

most area of membranes into the least volume, to
minimise the cost of the containment vessel
Classification
Based on structure:
Mainly two types of membrane
configuration are there
1. Flat
2. Tubular

Plate-and-frame and spiral wound involve

flat membrane.

Tubular and hollow fibre are based on

tubular membrane configuration.[2]
 Based on functioning:
1. Self-contained type.
The most common module type for UF and RO
membranes is the self-contained (or housed)
membrane module where feed water is pumped
through the housing. All feed, concentrate, and
filtrate piping connections are integral to the
module.[4]

2. Open immersion type.
The open immersion type modules are
placed into the feed water tank with the
membrane exposed.[4]
HFM Introduction
Hollow fibre membranes(HFMs) are a class
of artificial membranescontaining a semi-
permeable barrier in the form of ahollow
fibre.

Each filament is very narrow in diameter

and very flexible.

Dimensions: 50-m internal diameter and

100- to 200-m outer diameter.
Phase Inversion
Fibre Formation
All man made fiber spinning process are
based on three general steps.These steps
are:
Conversion of a polymer into a liquid or
spinning solution, also called a dope.
Extruding the solution through a
spinneret to from a filament or fiber.
Solidifying the fiber by coagulation,
evaporation or cooling.[5]
Materials
The molecular weights of fiber forming
polymers must be high enough for
achieving good mechanical and
thermal stability, and at the same
time, low enough for dissolving or
melting for extruding into fibers.
Fabrication Of HFM
Melt spinning, in which a thermoplastic
polymer is melted and extruded through a
spinneret into air and subsequently cooled.
[5,6]
Dry spinning, in which a polymer is
dissolved in an appropriate solvent and
extruded through a spinneret into air.[5,6]
Wet spinning, in which a polymer is
dissolved and extruded directly into a
coagulant (usually water)[5,6]
Melt Spinning
Dry Spinning
Wet Spinning
HFM module manufacture
The earliest reports of hollow fiber module designs
come from the patents of [7],
i. Dow
ii. DuPont
. The modern method for module formation is given
by[7]:
i. Generon
Module Structure
Hollow-fibre modules are characteristically
4-8 inch (10-20 cm) in diameter and 3-5
(1.0-1.6 m) feet long.
Hollow-fibre membrane modules are
formed in 2 basic geometries[8]:
(a) shell-side feed design
(b) bore-side feed design
Shell-side feed design
In the shell-side feed design, a loop or closed
bundle of fibres is contained in a pressure vessel.
The system is pressurised from the shell side, and
the permeate passes through the fibre wall and
exits through the open fibre ends.
Because the fibre wall must support considerable
hydrostatic pressure, the fibres usually have small
diameters and thick walls [2,8].
Bore-side feed design
In the bore-side feed design, the fibres are
open at both ends and the feed is
circulated through the bore (annulus area)
of the fibres.
To minimise pressure drop inside the fibres,
the diameter are usually larger than those
of the fine fibres used in the shell-side feed
design [2,8].
Regeneration
Air scouring
The injection of air causes high turbulence on the
fibres leading to the removal of solids from the
membrane surface.
Thus the cake layer is removed from the fibres [9].
Forward flush
Water enters through the feed inlet and leaves
through the reject outlet.
Thus the solid are taken away with it regenerating
the membrane module [9].
Backflush
Permeate enters through the permeate outlet and
leaves through the reject outlet.
Thus the solid are taken away with it regenerating
the membrane module.
The loss of permeate during backflushing is very
low and hardly affects the net permeate flow [9].
Backflush with Air scouring
Simultaneous combination of backflush
and air scouring [9].
Electric Field
By applying an electric field across a membrane,
charged particles or molecules will migrate in the
direction of the electric field.
Electrical cleaning can be applied without
interrupting the process and the electric field is
applied at certain time intervals[9].
Advantages

Hold up volume of hollow fiber module is the highest,

followed by plate and frame, spiral wound, tubular, and
rotating disc/cylinder module.
The single greatest advantage of hollow-fibre modules is the
ability to pack a very large membrane area into a single
module.
For example, in an 8-inch diameter, 40-inch long spiral-wound
module would contain about 20 - 40 m 2of membrane area.
The equivalent hollow-fibre module filled with fibres of 100-
mm diameter, will contain approximately 600 m 2of
membrane area.

The investment is low.[2,8]

Disadvantages
Hollow fiber modules are very susceptible to
fouling and are difficult to clean.
Pretreatment of the feed stream is most important
in hollow fiber systems.
A fiber inner diameter variation leads to a flow
rate variation that can dramatically reduce
module performance[2,8].
Application
Waste water treatment process.
Drinking water treatment process.
Hollow Fiber Dialyser.
Membrane oxygenator.
Artificial Lungs.
Artificial Kidney.
Pervaporation of liquids.
Gas seperation.
References
1. http://www.advantecmfs.com/catalog/filt/membrane.pdf
2. Mulder, M. (1996) Basic Principles of Membrane
Technology. 2nd edn. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic
Publishers.
3. http://
www.separationprocesses.com/Membrane/MT_Chp04a.ht
m
4. https://
www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/membrane/microza/en/kiso/kiso_7.
html
5. http://textilestudycenter.com/melt-spinning-dry-spinnin
g-and-wet-spinning-method
/
6. Vandekar V. (2015) Manufacturing of Hollow Fiber
Membrane. International Journal of Science and Research
(IJSR), 4(9), pp. 1990-1993.
7. Norfamilabinti Che Mat, Yuecun Lou and G Glenn
Lipscomb (2014) Hollow fiber membrane modules.
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, 4, pp. 18-
24.
8. Baker, R. (2004) Membrane Technology and
Applications. 2nd edn. Chichester: John Wiley and
Sons, Ltd.
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K24eK7IdVRg
Thank You