UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN KIMIA

PROCESS ENGINEERING LABORATORY II (CPE 554)

NAME

MUHAMMAD FAIZ ISYRAF BIN ISHAK (2012453984)

GROUP
EXPERIMENT
DATE
PROG/CODE
SUBMIT TO

:
:
:
:
:

EH 222 5A
MEMBRANE SEPARATION UNIT
13/10/2014
EH 222
SIR SUFIAN

No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Title
Abstract
Introduction
Objectives
Theory
Procedures/Methodology
Apparatus
Results
Calculation
Discussion
Conclusion
Recommendations
References
Appendices
TOTAL

Allocated
Marks(%)
5
5
5
5
10
5
10
10
20
10
5
5
5
100

Remarks:

Checked by:

Rechecked by:

Date:

Date:

Marks

ABSTRACT

This experiment was done to analyze the characteristic of 4 different membrane barriers
for separation process. All the procedures including general start-up and general shut-down has
been done. All the data has been tabulated and graphs of time versus permeate weight for each
membrane has been plotted. From the results, it showed that membrane 4 has the highest
permeation rate and membrane 3 is the lowest. The difference may due to the difference in
property of each membrane. The results achieved may be not fully accurate due to some factors
that can affect the data.

INTRODUCTION

Membrane separation is an important of process industries. In this process, the membrane

acts as semipermeable barrier that control the rate of the movement of various molecules
between two liquid phase, two gas phases, or a liquid and a gas phase. Usually, the two fluid
phases are usually miscible and the membrane distrupt the ordinary flow of fluid or gas.
Important technical applications include drinking water by Reverse Osmosis (RO), filtrations in
the food industry, recovery of organic vapors and electrolysis for chlorine production
In this experiment, we use the SOLTEQ Membrane Test Unit (Model : TR 14) as the
equipment. This apparatus can demonstrate the technique of membrane separations and provide
effective separation without the use of the heat. Thus, heat sensitive materials, such as fruit juices
can be separated without affecting its nutritional value. The unit consists of a test module with
four different membranes, namely Reverse Osmosis (RO), nano filtration (NF), ultrafiltration
(UF) and microfiltration (MF) membranes.

OBJECTIVES

To study the characteristics of 4 different types of membrane silicon in terms of

separation process.

THEORY

A membrane is a selective barrier that permits the separation of certain species in a fluid
by combination of sieving and sorption diffusion mechanism. Separation is achieved
by selectively passing called permeating one or more components of a stream through the
membrane while stopping the passage of one or more other components. Feed stream of
membrane processes is divided into 2 streams that are retentate and permeate. The retentate is
that part of the feed that does not pass through the membrane, while the permeate is that part of
the feed that does pass through the membrane.

Reverse osmosis method removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions
by applying pressure to the solution at one side of the membrane. Pure solvent that is chosen
through suitable pore sizes allowed passing through the membrane while the solute maintain at
the other side. Nano filtration is a process of water purification that remove contaminants from
the water to produce clean and pure water. It is a form of reverse osmosis that removes bivalent
hardness but leave single valent sodium ion.
Ultrafiltration is a separation process using membranes with pore sizes in the range of 0.1
to 0.001 micron. It will remove high molecular-weight substances, colloidal materials, and
organic and inorganic polymeric molecules. Low molecular-weight organics and ions such as
sodium, calcium, magnesium chloride, and sulfate are not removed. Because only highmolecular weight species are removed, the osmotic pressure differential across the membrane

surface is negligible. Microfiltration is a membrane technical filtration process which removes

contaminants from a fluid by passage through a micropores membrane. Microfiltration is
different from reverse osmosis and nanofiltration because those systems use pressure to force
water to go from low pressure to high pressure. Microfiltration can use a pressurized system but
it does not need to include pressure.

PROCEDURES
General Start-Up Procedure
1. All the valves were initially closed
2. Sodium chloride solution was prepared by adding 100g of sodium chloride into 20L of
water.
3. Power button for control panel was turned on. All the sensors and indicators were
checked to ensure they can function properly.
4. The thermostat was switched on and the thermo oil level was checked to ensure is the coil
inside the thermostat has already sunk. All the connections was checked up to be properlt
fitted.
5. The feed temperature was maintained by adjusting the temperature at the thermostat.
6. The equipment was ready for experiments.

Experimental procedure
1. The general start up procedures were done.
2. For membrane 1, valves V2, V5, V7, V11 and V15 were opened.
3. Plunger pump (P1) was switched on and valve V5 was slowly closed. The pressure was
adjusted to 20 bars.
4. Valve V5 was opened and the membrane maximum inlet pressure was set to 18 bar by
adjusting the retentive control valve (V15).
5. The system was allowed to run for 5 minutes. Samples from permeate sampling port was
collected and being weighed using digital weighing balance. The permeates were
weighed and recorded every 1 minute for 10 minutes.
6. Steps 1 to 5 were repeated for membrane 2, 3 and 4. The sets of valves that were opened
and closed and the membrane maximum inlet pressure that was adjusted for every
membrane were shown in table below.

Membrane

Open Valves

Sampling

Retentive

Membrane

Valves

control valve

maximum inlet
pressure(bar)

V2, V5, V7,

Open V19 and

V11 and V15

close V11

V2, V5, V8,

Open V20 and

V12 and V16

close valve V12

V2, V5, V9,

Open V21 and

V13 and V17

close valve V13

V2, V5, V10,

Open V22 and

V14 and V18

close V14

V15

18

V16

12

V17

10

V18

8.5

Table 1: Set of Valves for Each Membrane

7. Graph of permeate weight versus time was plotted.

General Shut-Down Procedures

1.

The pump was switched off.

2.

Valve V2 was closed.

3.

All liquid in the feed tank and product tank were drained by opening valves V3 and V4.

4.

The entire pipes were flushed with clean water. Valves V3 and V4 were closed and clean
water was filled to the feed tank until 90% full.

5.

The system was run with clean water until the feed tank was nearly empty.

MATERIALS AND APPARATUS

Membrane Test Unit (Model TR14)

Digital Weighing Balance

Stopwatch

Beaker

Sodium chloride.

Water.

RESULTS
Membrane 1
Times (mins)

Weight of sample (g)

37.88

77.46

116.44

156.46

196.61

236.30

276.30

317.12

357.35

10

398.85
Table 2: Data for membrane 1

Membrane 2

Times (mins)

Weight of sample (g)

60.64

120.13

182.71

244.90

360.20

369.60

430.72

492.39

555.60

10

617.88
Table 3: Data for membrane 2

Membrane 3

Times (mins)

Weight of sample (g)

16.02

31.99

48.00

63.80

80.34

94.96

111.59

126.35

144.76

10

159.68
Table 4: Data for membrane 3

Membrane 4

Times (mins)

Weight of sample (g)

432.88

856.24

1285.56

1708.80

2127.40

2555.37

3259.75

3678.94

4098.18

10

4509.90
Table 5: Data for membrane 4

5000
4500
4000
3500
3000

Membrane 1

2500

Membrane 2
Membrane 3

2000

Membrane 4

1500
1000
500
0
0

10

12

Figure 1: Time versus Permeate Weight

DISCUSSIONS

All the data has been tabulated and graph of time versus permeate weight has been
plotted. From the result, it shows that weight of permeate is directly proportional with time for
all four membranes. Permeate is a part of the feed stream that passed through the membrane,
while the other part that did not pass through the membrane is called the retentate. In the graph
plotted, it shows that there are different permeation rate for each of membrane, with membrane 4
has the highest permeation rate followed by membrane 2, 1 and lastly 3. The permeation rate
indicates that permeates move the fastest through membrane 4 and the slowest through
membrane 3. The reason of high permeation rate of membrane 4 is may due to its hydrophobic
property that is hate water. The low permeation rate of membrane 3 is most probably due to its
hydrophilic property that is love water.However this experiment is error prone due to few
factors such as variation in time intervals where the reading were taken not at actual one minute
interval, alteration of maximum inlet pressure due to vibration of the pump and error in taking

the readings. The best result can only be achieved by repeating the experiments and taking the
average reading.

CONCLUSION

As the conclusion, permeation rate was the highest at membrane 4 and the lowest at
membrane 3. This due to the property of the membrane itself where membrane 4 is hydrophobic
and membrane 3 is hydrophilic. The results may be affected by a few factors such as inaccurate
time interval, alteration in maximum inlet pressure and incorrect readings taken.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The experiment must be repeated 2 or 3 times for each membrane in order to get more
accurate reading.

The time when each sample is taken must be accurate.

The digital weighing balance must not be put near the pump as it will give vibration that
can affect the results.

REFERENCES

Aqua Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from

http://www.aquatechnology.net/reverseosmosistheory.html

Ferguson, J. (n.d.). How Stuff Work. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from

http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/tests-treatment/ultrafiltration.htm

GEA Filtration. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from

http://www.geafiltration.com/technology/membrane_filtration_process.asp

Koch Membrane System. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from

http://www.kochmembrane.com/Learning-Center/Technologies/What-is-Nanofiltration.aspx

Koch Memrane System. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from

http://www.kochmembrane.com/Learning-Center/Technologies/What-is-Nanofiltration.aspx

APPENDICES

Figure 2: Membrane Separation Unit