Control of Electrolyte Filtration through a Charged Porous Layer (Membrane) Using a Combination of Pressure Drop and an External Electric Field

Abstract

A novel method is proposed for calculating the solvent flux density and electric current density in the process of flow of an electrolyte solution through a charged porous layer (membrane) under the simultaneous action of external pressure and electric potential gradients. The method is based on irreversible thermodynamics and the cell model of an ion-exchange membrane. It is shown that, with the increase in the electrolyte concentration, the total permeability of the porous structure also increases as a result of both barofiltration and electroosmotic transfer of the solvent when both external gradients are co-directional vectors. As for the current density, it also increases with the increasing electrolyte concentration owing to the growth of the streaming current and specific conductivity.