Theoretical comparison of filtration by the renal glomerulus and artificial membranes.

Improvement in filtration performance of artificial membranes will be possible if their structure mimics the renal glomerulus. Blood filtration with glomerular capillary and artificial membranes was, therefore, modeled to clarify the effects of their structure on filtration rates. Filtration rates were obtained by dividing membrane modules axially into a number of sections and using a calculus of finite differences. The modules were assumed to be composed of straight hollow fibers arranged in parallel, with a membrane surface area of 1.5 m2. The mean transmembrane pressure (TMP) was assumed to be too low for a protein gel layer to form on the membrane surface. A decrease in the inner diameter of membrane hollow fibers led to an increase in filtration rate because of an increased film mass transfer coefficient. A decrease in hollow fiber length also produced an increase in filtration rate because of decreased axial TMP drop. The glomerular capillary has a higher filtration rate than artificial membranes because of the low TMP drop and the low osmotic pressure at the membrane surface. Decreasing both the inner diameter and the length of the hollow fibers is effective in increasing the filtration rate at constant TMP.