Membrane Systems Educational Module

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THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF MICROFILTRATION AND ULTRAFILTRATION MEMBRANE

SYSTEMS
Several definitions and equations are used to characterize all types of membranes. The
nomenclature below follows EPA's Membrane Filtration Guidance Manual (U.S. EPA, 2005).
The first definition is flux, J, which is the flow rate of filtrate, i.e., the water passing through
the membrane, per unit area of membrane:

Where:

Equation 1

J = flux, L/hr/m2 (gal/d/ft2) or Lmh (gfd)

Qp = filtrate flow rate through membrane, L/hr (gal/d)

Am = surface area of membrane, m2 (ft2)

Note that the flux unit of L/hr/m2 is usually abbreviated as Lmh and gal/d/ft2 as gfd.

As an example of calculating flux, suppose 200,000 gal/d are flowing through a membrane

with an area of 4,000 ft2. The flux would be (200,000 gal/d)/(4,000 ft2) = 50 gfd (85 Lmh).
The feed water recovery, R, is defined as the percentage of water fed to the membrane unit
that actually passes through the membrane, i.e., the filtrate, and does not account for any
water used in backpulse or chemical cleaning:

Where:

Equation 2

R = recovery of the membrane unit as a percentage

Qf = feed water flow to the membrane unit, L/hr (gal/d)

Of course a general flow balance would then be:

Equation 3

Where:

Qc = concentrate or reject flow from the membrane unit, i.e., feed water which
does not pass through the membrane and leaves the unit untreated, L/hr (gal/d)

The pressure difference across the membrane is what drives the water flow through the
membrane. It is called the transmembrane pressure, TMP, and is:
Equation 4

Where:

TMP = transmembrane pressure, psi

Pf = pressure on the feedwater side of the membrane, psi

Pp = pressure on the filtrate side of the membrane, psi

Note that the pressures need not be constant along the membrane in which case averages
may be appropriate depending on the purpose.
Since the TMP is the driver of the membrane flux, an equation can relate the two:

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Equation 5
Where:

Jt = flux at temperature T, Lmh (gfd)

Rt = total membrane resistance, psi/gfd-cp

T = viscosity in centipoises at water temperature T, cp

The total membrane resistance, Rt, is composed of the intrinsic membrane resistance and the
resistance of the foulant layer on the membrane:
Equation 6

Where:

Rm = intrinsic membrane resistance, psi/gfd-cp

Rf = resistance of the foulant layer, psi/gfd-cp

Note that as the water temperature goes down, the viscosity goes up and therefore by
equation 5, the flux rate would go down unless the TMP is increased. The EPA Guidance
Manual provides an equation to estimate the viscosity as a function of temperature:
Equation 7

Where:
T = water temperature, oC

Because water temperature can have a significant effect on viscosity and thus membrane flux,
the flux at any temperature is often normalized to what the flux would be at 20oC via the
following equation:
Equation 8
Where:

TCF = temperature correction factor for flux = T/20

Since the flux is linearly dependent on the TMP as shown in equation 5, it is also often
desirable to normalize the flux for different TMPs by simply dividing the flux by the TMP to
give the temperature and pressure normalized flux which is called the specific flux and is
essentially the expected flux through the membrane at 20oC and a TMP of 1 psi:
Equation 9
Where:

M20 = temperature and pressure normalized flux or specific flux, gfd,psi

By combining several of the equations above, the following relationship between TMP and
viscosity can be derived which can be used to predict TMP's and viscosities in order to
maintain a constant flux:
Equation 10

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For example, let us say that a membrane system is operating at a TMP of 9 psi at 25oC. If the
temperature drops to 10oC, what must the TMP be to keep the same flux? Since the

viscosities at 25oC and 10oC are 0.890 cp and 1.307 cp respectively. Thus, the TMP at 10oC
must be (9 psi)(1.307/0.890) = 13.2 psi, i.e., 47% higher.

One further definition that may be useful is the volumetric concentration factor, VCF, which is
the ratio of the concentration of suspended solids on the feed side of the membrane to that of
the influent feed concentration:
Equation 11
This ratio is useful in concerns about integrity breaches and the consequent potential for
contamination of the filtrate.

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