The retention performance of microfiltration membranes in liquid streams often depends on the particular application. In order to classify and compare membranes with different properties, they are sometimes tested in a controlled environment with standard particles of a certain size in a defined fluid stream. One of these model systems is the filtration of mono dispersed spherical polystyrene latex beads in an aqueous fluid. In this test, the retention mechanism for the beads is assumed to be size exclusion by sieving due to the surface properties of the beads and their spherical shape. This should lead to relatively constant retention efficiency over the duration of the experiment.
展开▼
