Permeation Behavior of Emulsion in relation to the Surface Condition of a Porous Glass Membrane

The permeation behavior of monodispersed emulsion permeated through porous glass membrane with uniform size controlled pores was examined. When emulsion having droplets larger than the pore size was permeated at a higher pressure, the emulsion showed a different permeation behavior in respect to the membrane surface; droplets, larger than the pore size and having a high affinity for the membrane surface, were deformed to enter the pore so that demulsification occurred. Demulsification efficiency was dependent on the permeation pressure and the droplet size of the feed emulsion. However, if there was low affinity between the droplets and the membrane surface, a monodispersed emulsion with droplets nearly equal to or less than the pore size was generated. The droplet size of the permeated emulsion slightly decreased with increasing permeation pressure, while it was hardly influenced by the droplet size of the feed emulsion. By contrast, at a lower pressure, the droplets of a size smaller than the pores were all permeated and the droplets larger than the pore size were all rejected regardless of the surface condition of the membrane.