Modeling and design optimization for pleated membrane filters

TL;DR

This paper develops a detailed mathematical model to optimize the design of pleated membrane filters, aiming to improve their performance relative to unpleated filters by considering flow and pore structure intricacies.

Contribution

It introduces an advanced asymptotic modeling approach that couples flow within pleated structures to pore-level details for better filter design optimization.

Findings

Model captures flow and pore effects in pleated filters

Guides optimal membrane design for specific applications

Enhances understanding of performance differences

Abstract

Pleated membrane filters, which offer larger surface area to volume ratios than unpleated membrane filters, are used in a wide variety of applications. However, the performance of the pleated filter, as characterized by a flux-throughput plot, indicates that the equivalent unpleated filter provides better performance under the same pressure drop. Earlier work (Sanaei & Cummings 2016) used a highly-simplified membrane model to investigate how the pleating effect and membrane geometry affect this performance differential. In this work, we extend this line of investigation and use asymptotic methods to couple an outer problem for the flow within the pleated structure to an inner problem that accounts for the pore structure within the membrane. We use our new model to formulate and address questions of optimal membrane design for a given filtration application.