Emulsions prepared by two-stage ceramic membrane jet-flow emulsification

✍ Scribed by Wenheng Jing; Jun Wu; Weihong Xing; Wanqin Jin; Nanping Xu

• Publisher: American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 199 KB
• Volume: 51
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0001-1541
• DOI: 10.1002/aic.10405

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

To solve the paradox between the flux and droplet size in conventional membrane emulsification, a process including a two‐stage ceramic membrane emulsification under jet flow was proposed. An apparatus integrating slurry reactor and membrane emulsification was used in this investigation. In the first stage, a ZrO~2~ ceramic membrane, with a nominal pore size of 0.16 μm, was used. The flux of the membrane was 150 L m^−2^ h^−1^ at a pressure of 0.35 MPa and a temperature of 20°C, and the droplet size of the emulsion was 54.69 μm. To obtain monodispersed emulsions with a small droplet size, a second ceramic membrane jet‐flow emulsification was used. An α‐Al~2~O~3~ ceramic membrane with a nominal pore size of 1.5 μm was selected as the emulsification medium. The flux was attained at 454 L m^−2^ h^−1^ at a pressure of 0.2 MPa, and the monodispersed emulsion with droplet size (D~50~) of 2.29 μm could be obtained. The effects of pressure, stirring speed, and emulsifier concentration on the second stage of the process were discussed in detail. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005