ABSTRACT
In the recent past, various types of membrane separation processes, such as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) have been used for a wide range of separation, purification, and concentration applications. MF is the intermediate process among cloth filtration, particle sieving, and UF. Typically, MF processes separate suspended particles of an average pore diameter in the range of 0.1–10 µm. The typical pressure differential for the separation of these particles is below 2.5 bar. Major applications of MF membranes include the removal of suspended solids from various water sources, primary treatment of various industrial wastewater, removal of suspended solids, fine particles, bacteria, and clarification of fruit juice. This chapter discusses various types of microfiltration membranes, preparation methods, raw materials employed, characterization techniques, and applications. Detailed discussions on polymeric membranes, ceramic membranes, and their advantages and disadvantages have been reported. Finally, application of microfiltration membranes in the treatment of oily wastewater, clarification of fruit juice, and separation of electro-coagulated water for drinking water purification are reported along with a few other potential applications. Different types of flux decline mechanisms, membrane cleaning methods, and the effect of operating parameters on membrane efficiency during filtration are explained.
