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Feijoa juice is being concentrated using an
ultrafiltration membrane to remove excess water. The dilute feed
flows in at 600 m/hr with 5 % solids (wt/wt) and density 1015
kg/m3. The desired concentration of the juice is 16 % total solids.
A tubular membrane system is chosen, with membrane tubes of 3 cm
internal diameter. The system operates with a pressure differential
of 3000 kPa applied across the membrane.
a) What is the main advantage of using membrane separation to
concentrate feijoa juice instead of evaporation?
b) Determine the mass flow rates of the feed, permeate and
retentate streams in kg/s.
c) If the permeability constant of the membrane is 5 × 10-5 kg/[m2
kPa s], what is the total length of membrane tube required?
d) Explain how concentration polarisation will affect transmembrane
flux in this process. You may include relevant equations in your
explanation.