Computational Fluid Dynamics Guided Design of Antifouling Surface Patterned Membranes: A Review

نویسندگان

1 Laboratory of Polymer Science, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia

2 Graduate School of Environmental Management, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Jl. Tgk Chik Pante Kulu No. 5, Banda Aceh 23111, Darussalam, Indonesia

3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia

4 Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia

5 Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia

doi
10.48309/jcr.2026.570067.1563
چکیده

Imposing feed turbulence flow in the membrane filtration system alleviates membrane fouling and enhances the overall membrane performance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation provides easy access to visualizing the hydrodynamic performance of any design and technique employed for generating the membrane feed turbulence flow. Among several membrane feed turbulence flow generation techniques, membrane surface patterning and turbulence promoters are the most prominent. By patterning the surface of a membrane, the antifouling performance of the membrane improved by up to 58%. Moreover, by adjusting the operating velocity from 30 to 50 cm/s, the membrane hydraulic performance was enhanced by 20%. Furthermore, the antifouling performance of feed turbulence flow depends on operating parameters including the feed flow direction towards the turbulence generator. By reorienting the feed flow from parallel to perpendicular to the membrane surface patterns, the membrane lifespan improved by up to 14.4%. Therefore, for several decades many authors explored CFD to simulate the performance of the feed turbulence generation techniques prior to validation to save costs, time, and to obtain optimum design and operating parameters. Thus, many authors reviewed the CFD simulation results of the hydrodynamic performance of turbulence promoters while ignoring that of the surface patterning technique. This study aims to review the CFD simulation results of the hydrodynamic performance of membrane surface patterning by examining the patterns design and operating parameters performance and limitations as well as identifying the potential research avenues in the field.