Shell-Side Mass-Transfer Performance in Hollow-Fiber Membrane Contactors

Abstract The accurate prediction of hollow-fiber membrane performance is limited by models of the shell-side mass-transfer coefficient. A review of the literature suggests that there have been in excess of 30 correlations for this coefficient. This article investigates these correlations in parallel-flow randomly-packed modules and cross-flow hollow-fiber membrane contactors. In particular, the variation of the Sherwood number on the shell side against the Reynolds number and packing density is considered. Shell-side mass-transfer performance is also investigated experimentally in a 10% (v/v) tributyl phosphate (TBP) in Shellsol2046/phenol/water system in four membrane modules. Data are compared with existing model predictions. The predicted values from four correlations agreed well with the observed data in randomly-packed hollow-fiber modules. In the commercial modules, experimental results varied greatly as a function of the Reynolds number. The use of a more consistent approach for the calculation of the linear fluid velocity on the shell side allowed the development of a generalized correlation, Shs = 0.055Re0.72 Sc0.33 , (R 2 = 0.77), that can predict the shell-side mass-transfer coefficient for both handmade and commercial membrane modules.