The effect of pore size distribution on the separation efficiency in surface force pore-flow model-system: Isopropanol-water

The surface force pore-flow (SFPF) model is based on solute-membrane material interactions at the membrane-solution interface. It has been used to model the transport of solute and solvent through membranes under the influence of such forces and to determine separation efficiency based on the assumption of circular pores. It is evident from the model that the pore diameter has a strong bearing upon the separation efficiency and the mean separation efficiency can be determined from the pore size distribution. In this work a Monte Carlo simulation technique has been employed to generate a large number of sample pores from the mean and the standard deviation. The Gaussian distribution has been used to determine the separation efficiency in the SFPF model. The results have been compared with the available data for isopropanol/cellulose acetate/water system and the predicted values agree well with the published data.