Effect of membrane morphology on rising properties of filtration resistance in microfiltration of dilute colloids

The effect of membrane morphology on the flux decline behaviors in dead‐end unstirred microfiltration of very dilute colloids of polystyrene latex was examined using mixed cellulose ester and cellulose acetate membranes with interconnected tortuous pores and track‐etched polycarbonate membranes with uniform straight cylindrical pores. The plots of reciprocal filtration rate against the filtrate volume per unit membrane area for the former two membranes exhibit concave downward curves in the initial period when the membrane pore blocking is significant, whereas the plot for the latter shows a concave upward curve in that period. The former results were described by a serial resistance model consisting of the initial membrane pore blocking followed by filter cake growth, and the latter was represented by a parallel resistance model in which the pore blocking and cake growth develop simultaneously from the beginning of filtration. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 63: 3511–3522, 2017