Ceramic Membranes for Separation and Reaction
Chapter One
Ceramic Membranes and
Membrane Processes
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In general, a ceramic membrane can be described as a permselective barrier or a fine sieve.
Permeability and separation factor of a ceramic membrane are the two most important performance
indicators. For a porous ceramic membrane, they are typically governed by thickness,
pore size and surface porosity of the membrane, while for a dense ceramic membrane,
the principle for permeation and separation is more complex. In porous ceramic membranes,
their applications and separation mechanisms correspond to the pore size of the ceramic
membranes as shown in Table 1.1.
Ceramic membranes are usually composite ones consisting of several layers of one or
more different ceramic materials. They generally have a macroporous support, one or two
mesoporous intermediate layers and a microporous (or a dense) top layer. As shown in Figure
1.1, the bottom layer provides mechanical support, while the middle layers bridge the pore
size differences between the support layer and the top layer where the actual ... read full excerpt from Ceramic Membranes for Separation and Reaction ebook
