During filtration, most particles accumulate on the membrane
surface, forming a cake or a gel layer, while some particles may
adsorb on or block the surface pores. The suspension flows across
the membrane surface tangentially, while the filtrate permeates
through the membrane vertically. Fine particles are carried by the
liquid medium to the filter channels, the majority arriving at the
membrane surface and depositing stably to form a filter cake. Xu,
Li, Zhao, Xing, and Shi (2003) analyzed the effects of membrane
pore-size distribution and particle-size distribution of a powder
suspension on filtration performance, discovering a correlation
between membrane permeability and microscopic material structure.
From the view point of application in real cases, therefore,
it is highly desirable to design the membrane microstructure to
match particle characteristics of a slurry, in order to insure high
performance and efficiency of filtration