ABSTRACT
Using hollow fiber modules for the production of drinking water needs to investigate laminar flow of a suspension inside a porous tube with wall suction. At first, numerical and experimental models, valid for similar Reynolds number, are developed to determine velocity and pressure fields at a macroscopic fiber scale for a Newtonian fluid without particles. In order to have a realistic prediction for optimisation of the working conditions of the industrial process we must incorporate time dependant wall permeation characteristics due to surface deposit formation and clogging during the filtration period. A local 2D flow approach at a microscopic pore scale reveals conditions for particle deposition on the filter surface. In the second part we propose a statistical model, able to predict the aggregation of micronic particles. Moving and sticking rules are developed taking into account not only the hydrodynamical conditions but also phenomena such as physicochemical, double layer, brownian, concentration, density and particle shape effects. The influence of capture mechanisms on the structure of surface deposits is analysed and characterized by 2D macroscopic mean porosity and thickness quantities.
