Simulations of particulate flow passing through membrane pore under dead-end and constant-pressure filtration condition

We present simulations showing the particulate flows passing through a single membrane pore under a dead-end and constant-pressure condition. We investigate the effects of the rolling friction acting on particles and the particle concentration on the pore clogging phenomena. A decrease in the rolling friction coefficient of particles shifts the clogging position toward the permeate side and decelerates the permeating flux decline. This effect of the rolling friction coefficient decreases with increasing particle concentration. Furthermore, we simulate the permeation of two-component suspensions, which include two types of particles with large and small rolling friction coefficients. The small number of particles with a large friction coefficient drastically accelerate the pore clogging because they first deposit near the pore entrance and trap subsequent particles. This result indicates that particles that are less accumulated on the membrane under a single-component condition may be primary foulants in a multicomponent system.