Microfluidic model systems used to emulate processes occurring during soft particle filtration.

ABSTRACT: Cake layer formation in membrane processes is an inevitable phenomenon. For hard particles, especially cake porosity and thickness determine the membrane flux, but when the particles forming the cake are soft, the variables one has to take into account in the prediction of cake behavior increase considerably. In this work we investigate the behavior of soft polyacrylamide microgels in microfluidic model membranes through optical microscopy for in situ observation both under regular flow and under enhanced gravity conditions. Particles larger than the pore are able to pass through deformation and deswelling. We find that membrane clogging time and cake formation is not dependent on the applied pressure but rather on particle and membrane pore properties. Furthermore, we found that particle

SUBMITTER: Bouhid de Aguiar I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6395687 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature