Simulation of membrane-assisted electroseparation of binary suspension

A two-dimensional Monte Carlo model for a description of electroseparation of a binary suspension of small and big particles placed between two membranes is developed. It is assumed that the membranes are permeable only to small particles with diameter d. The ratio of particle diameters D/d is varied within the interval 2–10. The direction of the electric field is changed with the period TE. The effects of the particles concentration and the distance between the electrodes and the electrophoretic velocity on the electroseparation kinetics are studied. Behavior of a total electroseparation time tf required for the elimination of all small particles from the system is discussed. At some optimal values of TE, the minimum value of tf was observed.