Recuperative parametric pumping in adsorptive membranes

Abstract

Recuperative parametric pumping in adsorptive membranes, a cyclical adsorptive separation process, can lead to two distinct mechanisms of separation: rejection and preferential transport. During rejection, the adsorptive membrane rejects an adsorbing solute while permitting the transport of nonadsorbing solutes. During preferential transport the reverse occurs; the adsorptive membrane selectively transports an adsorbing solute while preventing the transport of nonadsorbing solutes. Switching from rejection to preferential transport can be accomplished by merely decreasing the ratio of the stroke volume (cyclical volume of solution pumped into and out of the membrane) to the membrane void volume. Preferential transport, earlier called an “inverse separation,” results from the adsorbing solute crossing over from an adsorbing to a desorbing region in the interior of the membrane and is governed by the shape of the equilibrium isotherms and by process variables. In experiments with lysozyme and a membrane chromatography cartridge, selectivities obtained by preferential transport were on the order of 5 and agreed with theoretical predictions. Theoretical predictions suggest that to further improve separation by preferential transport, experiments need to be conducted on low dispersion membranes (Pe > 10 4 ) and that both rejection and preferential transport can lead to continuous concentrated streams of the adsorbing solutes.