Dioxole coated membrane module for ultrafiltration or microfiltration of aqueous suspensions

摘要

A filter useful for the ultrafiltration and microfiltration of aqueous suspensions includes a microporous membrane structure that has pores of size effective to reject particles in the range of about 0.01-10 &mgr;m. At least a portion of the membrane structure in contact with the suspension has a surface energy less than that of polytetrafluoroethylene. Low surface energy can be achieved by coating a microporous substrate with a substance such as fluorine substituted dioxole polymer. The filter has superior resistance to fouling by species suspended in the aqueous suspension and can continuously filter flow of such suspension in excess of 100 L/(m²−h) for more than 150 hours. The new filter is useful in many traditionally fouling prone ultrafiltration and microfiltration membrane applications such as the filtering of shipboard generated graywater waste.