SOLID-LIQUID SEPARATION BY CROSS-FLOW MULTIMEDIA FILTRATION

ALTHOUGH THROUGH-FLOW, DEEP-BED, MULTIMEDIA FILTRATION AND CROSS-FLOW ULTRAFILTRATION WITH THIN-SKINNED MEMBRANES ARE BOTH WELL-KNOWN TECHNIQUES FOR SOLID-LIQUID SEPARATION, IT HAS NOT BEEN GENERALLY RECOGNIZED IN THE LITERATURE THAT IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO RETAIN THE ADVANTAGES OF BOTH MULTIMEDIA FILTRATION AND CROSS-FLOW FILTRATION (CFF), WHILE AVOIDING THE DISADVANTAGES OF EITHER, BY USING SUCCESSIVE LAYERS OF SUITABLE THICK-WALLED MATRICES IN A CFF MODE. IN THE PROPOSED PROGRAM, NOVEL, IN-DEPTH, TUBULAR, CROSS-FLOW FILTERS WILL BE DEVELOPED USING SUCCESSIVE LAYERS OF CHEAP, COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE FILTER MATERIALS AND THESE WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY TESTED IN THE LABORATORY IN ORDER TO ASSESS THEIR ABILITY TO REMOVE SUSPENDED AND COLLOIDAL SOLIDS FROM SYNTHETIC AS WELL AS ACTUAL FEEDS. PARAMETRIC TESTS AND ASSOCIATED THEORETICAL STUDIES WILL ALSO BE CARRIED OUT FOR FILTER OPTIMIZATION AND FOR DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHENOMENOLOGY INVOLVED.