5195
Yomna Osama Abd El Rahman Mostafa
Effect of some Processing Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Hollow Fiber Membranes
Hollow fiber membranes, Microwave heating, Post-treatment, Saline solution, Mechanical properties, Surface roughness, Surface morphology
Hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) are currently used for a variety of applications such as water treatment and desalination, biomedical applications (artificial internal organs) and diversified biotechnological applications. In addition, the use of membranes for gas separation has recently received increasing interest. On the other hand, numerous factors affecting the desired membrane characteristics are interacting to set at the end the requirements of a given application. Membrane drying represents a critical step affecting the entire morphological, surface properties and mechanical characteristics of the fabricated HFMs. The interaction of fiber spinning parameter with drying as a post-treatment has a crucial impact on the functional aspects of the membrane.In this work, the effect of microwave (MW) drying in different media comprising distilled water, saline and MW in air have been investigated using polyethersulfone (PES) HFMs. Investigations have been carried out using a domestic MW oven within the following ranges: temperature (35-85˚C) and time duration up to 15 minutes. The following results have been concluded:The apparent morphological changes refer to a moderate dimensional stability as far as internal and external fiber diameter. The maximum relative membrane thickness with respect to their parent untreated samples are (-18.2 to 16%), (-34%), (-3.23 to 20.15%), (23.19%), (75%) and (62.5%) for MW heating in distilled water, MW heating in sodium chloride solutions, MW heating in lithium chloride solutions, MW heating in air at 55˚C, MW heating in air at 85˚C and conventional heating in air media, respectively. In general, results for MW heating in air and conventional air heating in oven indicated increased membrane thickness for all investigated conditions. On the contrary, MW treatment in sodium chloride medium manifests decreased thickness for all samples.
2016
M.Sc
Ain Shams
Engineering