Feature 25

Filtration+Separation May/June 2011

Ceramic membranes:

High filtration area

packing densities
improve membrane
performance
ew tubular ceramic membranes have been developed that provide
N a high packing density of the filtration area. These new ceramic
membrane filter elements have been proven in case studies in
oily wastewater treatment applications. Steffen Heidenreich and
Winfried Michell of Pall Filtersystems GmbH describe the findings.

Schumasiv ceramic membrane filter
elements made by Pall Corporation
have been successfully used in different
applications for many years. Examples
are oil-water separation of compressor
condensates, degreasing baths, coolant
lubricants and washing waters, filtration of
process waters, catalyst recovery in chemical
processes, biomass separation in wastewaters
and various applications for clarification
of beverages. Schumasiv membranes are
available as tubular mono and multi-
channel filter elements. They have a
Figure 1: SEM picture of the multi-layer structure of a
0.05μm membrane.
support body made of pure _-alumina, the and 52mm (19 channels with 8mm channel
chemically stable phase of alumina. The diameter). Figure 2 shows some examples of
membranes are made of alumina, zirconia or the filter elements with different geometries.
titania depending on the pore size. Due to
a fine graded multi-layered structure having
a coarse support coated with several layers
of decreasing pore size, membranes with a
wide range of pore sizes are manufactured
covering the whole range of micro and ultra
filtration from 2 to 0.005 μm. In Figure 1,
the structure of a 0.05μm ultrafiltration
membrane is shown as an example.
Ceramic membranes have an excellent
resistance against abrasion and chemically
aggressive fluids. Furthermore, they have
high mechanical strength, good thermal
resistance and high separation efficiency.
The mono and multi-channel Schumasiv
filter elements are available with different
diameters of the flow channels from 2.8 to
16 mm. This enables their use in a wide
variety of applications having different solid
concentrations. Schumasiv membrane filter
elements have a length up to 1.5m. The
outer diameters of the multi-channel filter
elements are typically 25.4mm (19 channels
with 3.3mm channel diameter), 41mm (19
channels with 6mm channel diameter or 37 Figure 2: Examples of Schumasiv ceramic membrane
channels with 3.6mm channel diameter) filter elements of different geometries.
26 Feature
Figure 3: Module housings
The ceramic membrane filter elements are
installed in module housings (see Figure 3).
Standard housings can have up to 27m2
of filtration area per housing. The filter
elements are easily installed with O-ring
seals. Due to their resistance in the pH
range from 1 to 14, ceramic membranes
can be cleaned with aggressive chemicals,
organic solvents, hot water or steam.
Furthermore, ceramic membranes can be
regenerated by back flushing with high
pressures, and they have a long service life.
High packing density
In order to reduce size and cost of a filter
system, new ceramic membrane filter elements
with a high packing density of filtration area
have been developed.
By increasing the packing density of the
filtration area, a larger membrane surface
per filter element could be achieved without
changing the outer diameter and length of the
existing filter elements. This enables an increase
in filtration rate in existing membrane systems
by replacing the existing ceramic membrane
filter elements. A reduction in the number of
filter elements and correspondingly the size and
costs of the filter system for new installations
will also be demonstrated in the case studies.
The membrane surface per filter element has
been increased by a more dense packing of
the flow channels. A hexagonal geometry
of the cross-section of the flow channels has
been selected to enable a very dense packing
like a honeycomb. The hexagonal outline
of the flow channels allows for ceramic
membrane filter elements with a very high
packing density of the membrane surface.
Compared to the usual round geometry of
the flow channels, an increase of filtration
area per filter element by 50 percent has been
achieved. For example, the filtration area of
a multi-channel membrane filter element
with an outer diameter of 41mm and a length
of 1.2m has been increased from 0.5m2 to
0.75m2. The number of flow channels has
been increased in this case from 37 (round
channels with a diameter of 3.6 mm) to
61 channels (hexagonal channels with a
hydraulic diameter of 3.1 mm) per element
(Fgure 4). The improvement of a more dense
packing of the filtration surface results in a
higher permeate flow per filter element.
Oil-water separation
Schumasiv ceramic membrane filter elements
are a good choice for oil-water separation
applications because of their excellent
mechanical, thermal and chemical stability,
as well as their high filtration efficiency,
high permeate flow and long-term durability.
In recent years these filter elements have
exhibited excellent performance in many
oil-water separation applications. The new
Schumasiv membrane filter elements with the
hexagonal flow channels continue to provide
all the benefits of the previous Schumasiv
membrane filter elements. At the same time,
they enable increased permeate flux per
element and a cost reduction of the membrane
filter system.
The following two case studies highlight and
demonstrate the successful and advantageous
use of the new filter elements in oily
wastewater treatment applications. One
case study is the successful increase of the
filtration rate by replacing previous Schumasiv
membrane filter elements with round channels
with hexagonal channels and increased
packing density of the filtration surface. The
second case study reports on a new installation
where the size of the filter system has been
reduced taking full advantage of the higher
surface area of the Schumasiv hexagonal
channel filter elements.
Figure 4: Comparison of a multi channel ceramic
membrane element with an outer diameter of 41mm
having 37 round channels with channel diameter of
3.6mm and a new element with 61 hexagonal channels
having the same outer diameter of 41mm.
Filtration+Separation May/June 2011
Case study – Replacement
In the year 2000, a recycling company
built a filtration plant (see Figure 5) for the
treatment of mixed waste waters, oily waters
and emulsions from different industrial
sources. The plant originally used 1.2m long
Schumasiv ceramic membrane filter elements
with an outer diameter of 41mm and 37 round
flow channels with a channel diameter of
3.6mm. Due to a large expansion of the local
wastewater market, the customer needed
to increase the throughput capacity of the
recycling plant. The customer became aware
of the new Schumasiv ceramic membrane
filter elements with the dense packing of
the membrane surface developed by Pall
Corporation. Some trials were performed
with the new membranes in the existing filter
test rig in order to evaluate the increase in
filtration rate that could be achieved with the
higher packing density of the filtration area.
The newly designed Schumasiv filter elements
offered the possibility of a simple upgrading of
the existing filtration plant and the increase of
the throughput capacity by replacing the existing
ceramic membrane filter elements with the
newly developed ones. The trials were successful
and the customer decided to replace the existing
ceramic membranes in the plant with 61
hexagonal flow channels (element length: 1.2m;
outer diameter of the elements: 41mm).
With the replacement of the filter elements,
the customer has achieved an increase of the
filtration rate of the plant from an average of
2200 l/h to 3200 l/h. The 45 percent increase
at constant high filtrate quality corresponds to
a nearly complete utilisation of the increased
surface area. The new filter elements have been
in operation since 2008 without any problem.
The increase of the production capacity of the
plant from 350 000 l to 510 000 l per week is
an important success for the customer. This has
been achieved at reasonably low costs and with
a very short loss of production time during the
exchange of the filter elements. Only the filter
elements had to be replaced. All other parts of
the plant, such as the existing housings, pumps,
valves and piping could still be used and did
not need to be replaced. The payback period of
the cost was three months. The customer has
expanded the plant capacity even further by
installing an additional housing with hexagonal
channel Schumasiv filter elements.
Case study – New installation
A chassis manufacturer collected oily waste
coolants from a machining shop and shipped
it by tanker twice a week. Onsite installation
of a cross flow filtration system in order to
reduce the waste volume offered significant
cost savings. Calculations based on using a
compact filter system with the new Schumasiv
filter elements with the dense packing of the
filtration surface showed an interesting return

Filtration+Separation May/June 2011
Figure 5: Filtration plant for the treatment of mixed oily wastewaters and emulsions
(Photo courtesy of Worth Recycling Pty Ltd and Mr. Guy Ortado).
on investment time of less than one year.
Thus, the customer decided to buy a Clarisep
cross flow filter system from Pall with the
new hexagonal channel Schumasiv elements.
The filtrate quality is so good (see Figure 6)
that the customer can discharge it to the foul
sewer without any further treatment step. The
oily concentrate is collected in containers
and shipped by tanker only three times per
year – a significant reduction compared to
two times per week before the installation of
the Pall Clarisep filter unit. The customer is
happy with the Clarisep system with the new
Schumasiv ceramic membrane filter elements
Feature 27
Figure 6: Comparison between oily wastewater and filtrate.
and is now looking for similar applications at For new installations, the number of filter
other locations. elements and correspondingly the size of the
filter housings and costs of the filter system can
Conclusions be reduced by using the new Schumasiv filter
elements with higher filtration surface. •
The new Schumasiv ceramic membrane filter
elements with high packing density of the Contact:
filtration area enables an easy upgrading of Dr.-Ing Steffen Heidenreich
Pall Filtersystems GmbH
existing filter systems by replacing the filter
Werk Schumacher Crailsheim
elements. This has been demonstrated by a case Zur Flügelau 70
study where the filtration rate has been increased 74564 Crailsheim
45 percent by replacing the old filter elements Germany
with the new Schumasiv filter elements without Tel: +49 7951 302 172
any additional change of the filter system. E-mail: steffen_heidenreich@europe.pall.com