Ultrafiltration of Surfactant Micelles: Cross-flow Experiments and Flux Modelling

摘要

Due to the high cost of catalysts containing optically active ligands and rare metals,rntheir retention in continuous processes is extremely valuable. The vast majority ofrnenantioselective homogeneous hydrogenations take place in organic solvents, but manyrncan also be carried out in aqueous solvents if catalyst and substrate are “solubilised” byrnmeans of surfactant micelles. Micelles can then be separated from the emulsion using anrnultrafiltration (UF) membrane. However, since MEUF has so far mainly beenrninvestigated for application in water treatment and lab experiments have been carriedrnout in dead-end stirred cells, a screening for the most suited membrane under conditionsrnthat allow scale-up is still pending. In this work, we investigate the Micellar-EnhancedrnUltrafiltration (MEUF) of surfactants solutions (SDS and Triton X-100) underrntechnically more realistic cross-flow (CF) and steady state conditions. Moreover, for anrnefficient process design, a novel practical and reliable flux model based on thernresistance-in-series model is proposed.