Bouhid de Aguiar Izabella, Schroën Karin
Membrane Science and Technology-Membrane Processes for Food, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
Membranes (Basel). 2020 Oct 29;10(11):316. doi: 10.3390/membranes10110316.
Membrane filtration processes are best known for their application in the water, oil, and gas sectors, but also in food production they play an eminent role. Filtration processes are known to suffer from a decrease in efficiency in time due to e.g., particle deposition, also known as fouling and pore blocking. Although these processes are not very well understood at a small scale, smart engineering approaches have been used to keep membrane processes running. Microfluidic devices have been increasingly applied to study membrane filtration processes and accommodate observation and understanding of the filtration process at different scales, from nanometer to millimeter and more. In combination with microscopes and high-speed imaging, microfluidic devices allow real time observation of filtration processes. In this review we will give a general introduction on microfluidic devices used to study membrane filtration behavior, followed by a discussion of how microfluidic devices can be used to understand current challenges. We will then discuss how increased knowledge on fundamental aspects of membrane filtration can help optimize existing processes, before wrapping up with an outlook on future prospects on the use of microfluidics within the field of membrane separation.
膜过滤工艺在水、石油和天然气领域的应用最为知名，但在食品生产中也发挥着重要作用。众所周知，过滤工艺会因颗粒沉积（也称为污垢和孔堵塞）等原因导致效率随时间下降。尽管在小尺度下对这些过程的了解还不是很深入，但已经采用了智能工程方法来保持膜工艺的运行。微流控装置越来越多地应用于研究膜过滤过程，并有助于在从纳米到毫米及更大的不同尺度上观察和理解过滤过程。结合显微镜和高速成像，微流控装置能够实时观察过滤过程。在本综述中，我们将对用于研究膜过滤行为的微流控装置进行总体介绍，随后讨论微流控装置如何用于理解当前面临的挑战。接着，我们将讨论对膜过滤基本方面的更多了解如何有助于优化现有工艺，最后展望微流控技术在膜分离领域的未来应用前景。
