DURCH TRANSMEMBRANEN DRUCKREGULIERTES FILTRATIONSSYSTEM.

摘要

A fluid flow control apparatus is described in which a removable sterilisable or disposable element is provided and in which the pressure of the fluid inlet and fluid outlet of the filter unit are monitored and the pressures are compared and used to control the pressure across the filter unit. This is particularly suitable for cross-flow filtration which is a procedure whereby the process fluid is recirculated over the membrane surface. Pressure is measured by bleeding the inlet conduit through an inlet bleed conduit (62) which includes a pressure switch (67) and pressure transducer (65). The outlet conduit containing the retentate also has a bleed line (78) and a post-membrane pressure transducer (84) is inserted in the second bleed off line. With this arrangement the inlet and outlet pressures can be monitored and the pressure values are averaged in use to control the pressure switch or valve so as to maintain optimal control of the transmembrane pressure and optimise filtration for the particular fluids and membranes used.