THE VIBRATING ULTRAFILTRATION MODULE - PERFORMANCE IN THE LOW-FREQUENCY REGION

The effect of vibrations on oil emulsion ultrafiltration was studied as a function of frequency (in the 0–50 Hz range) and of amplitude (0.0016-0.045 m). The experimental date obtained show that a minimal (“critical“) frequency must be reached in order to achieve effective ultrafiltration of oil from water. This “critical” frequency depends only on vibration amplitude. It was also found that the permeate flux increases with frequency and reaches a plateau value which depends only on the applied pressure. A mathematical relation is proposed in order to relate these parameters and to predict the behavior of the vibrating module in conditions different from the experimental ones. The energy consumption of such a module was evaluated as a function of the operative variables in order to determine the optimal working conditions. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.