The flow regime on the efficiency of a gas-liquid two-phase medium filtration

An easy technique, consisting in injecting air into the liquid stream, is proposed to enhance the permeate flux in crossflow filtration of a model fluid (i.e. a bentonite suspension). The injected air promotes turbulence and increases the superficial crossflow velocity that leads to a regular disturbance of the boundary layer. A systematic study of different two-phase configurations points up that the slug flow seems the most appropriate regime. The resulting permeate rate is increased up to 140%, in comparison with the usual filtration processes.