Membrane emulsification process performance
Droplet sizeDroplet sizes in the diameter range of 1-100 micron can be made with our technology. The droplet size is determined by the membrane design and does not depend on the formulation of the fluid system.
Uniformity
Due to the photo-lithographic process used in the production of the membranes, all pores on a membrane are the same and thus all droplets are the same. Very narrow droplet size distributions can be obtained. The picture shows the droplet size distribution of a sunflower oil in water emulsion with a coefficient of variation < 5% as measured with a Malvern particle sizer.
Chemical resistance
The membranes have a very high chemical resistance. They can withstand all organic solvents and almost all acids and bases. The exceptions are highly concentrated solutions of HF, H3PO4, KOH or NaOH.
Temperature resistance
The membranes can withstand temperatures up to 1000 °C
(1832 °F).
Energy consumption
Our process uses the minimum amount of energy required to create droplets. Compared to conventional high pressure homogenizers the energy consumption is negligible. As a result the emulsions will not heat up during production which allows the use of delicate temperature sensitive ingredients such as proteins.
Shear
Droplet formation does not require shear forces. Therefore the technology is extremely suitable for making droplets with shear sensitive ingredients or for making double emulsions.
Disperse phase fraction
Microsieve emulsification allows for very high disperse phase fractions without circulating the continuous phase.
Clogging/fouling
Due to the nature of the membrane emulsification process, the disperse phase has to be (made) free of particles larger than the membrane pore size. Compared to many other emulsification membranes our membranes show a very low droplet-to-pore diameter ratio. This makes our membranes less sensitive to fouling and clogging. This also allows for the incorporation of relatively large particles in droplets.