Modeling the effect of packing density on filtration performances in hollow fiber microfiltration module: a spatial study of cake growth

Abstract

This study continues from a previous work on the impact of packing density on the fluid flow distribution in a hollow fiber module [1]. A numerical model was developed to simulate the growth of a particle cake along the surface of a hollow fiber membrane and the subsequent fluid flow during a microfiltration operation. The model accounts for the continuous change in porous domain (cake and porous wall) geometry and permeability as long as filtration occurs. The effect module packing density has upon cake growth is carefully analyzed both for inside/out (I/O) and outside/in (O/I) filtration modes. The results exhibit significant differences in the time variations of cake spatial distribution along the fiber as a function of packing density for both filtration modes. Then a confrontation between forward filtration and backward filtration velocities offers some conclusion on the effect of packing density on the backwash efficiency. This in turn underlines the importance of design parameters in the filtration performance of a hollow fiber module.