A reliable dynamic simulator (based on a sound process model) is highly desirable for optimizing the performance of individual membrane modules and of entire desalination plants. This paper reports on progress toward development of a comprehensive model of the complicated physical-chemical processes occurring in spiral wound membrane (SWM) modules, that accounts for the...

Fermentation of lactose in whey permeate directly into ethanol has had only limited commercial success, as the yields and alcohol tolerances of the organisms capable of directly fermenting lactose are low. This study proposes an alternative strategy: treat the permeate with acid to liberate monomeric sugars that are readily fermented into ethanol. We identified optimum hydrolysis conditions tha...

In general, the optimization problems contain more than one response, which often conflict with each other. This paper proposes the TOPSIS-based Taguchi optimization approach to determine the optimization of reverse osmosis process parameters for improving recovery and quality of permeate. The performance criteria are identified for Permeate are COD, Total Solids, Conductivity and Hardness in r...

Cross-flow ultrafiltration of macromolecular solutions in a module with micro-channels is expected to have the advantages of fast diffusion from the membrane surface and a high ratio of membrane surface area to feed liquid volume. In addition, high shear stress will reduce the degree of fouling of the membrane. Though such kinds of ultrafiltration modules are expected to be used for separation ...

Corn processing streams are characterized by high water content. Removal of water and recovery of solids are major economic and logistical challenges. New technologies are needed to modify processing streams and to reduce variability and improve quality of coproducts. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of microfiltration and ultrafiltration systems in altering water, solids (prote...

Extremely high removals of total suspended solids and oil and grease were obtained when olive mill wastewaters were filtered using new silicon carbide tubular membranes. These new membranes were used at constant permeate flux to treat real olive mill wastewaters at pilot scale. The filtration conditions were evaluated and optimized in terms of the selection of the permeate flux and flux mainten...

There are several flow configurations for RO that allow the user to get the most out of the system. This paper will cover a few of the techniques used in RO design to optimize system performance. These techniques include the use of concentrate staging and concentrate recirculation to increase recovery, permeate staging to attain ultrapure standards of separation, and permate throttling and inte...

The aim of this work is to provide operating data for biodegradable hollow fiber membrane bioreactors. The physicochemical cell culture environment can be controlled with the permeate flowrate, so this aim necessitates the provision of operating equations that enable end-users to set the pressures and feed flowrates to obtain their desired culture environment. In this paper, theoretical express...

How the kidney prevents urinary excretion of plasma proteins continues to be debated. Here, using unfixed whole-mount mouse kidneys, we show that fluorescent-tagged proteins and neutral dextrans permeate into the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), in general agreement with Ogston's 1958 equation describing how permeation into gels is related to molecular size. Electron-microscopic analyses of ...