Preparation of O/W emulsion using submerged ceramic external membrane apparatus

A new submerged membrane emulsification apparatus using ceramic external membrane was introduced, which is attractive due to its simplicity, lower energy consumption, easier to integrate with other processes and scale-up. Using different pore size membranes, O/W emulsions with different particle sizes were prepared. The O/W emulsion with Sauter mean particle size of 1.98 μm was obtained by using 0.69 μm ceramic external membrane element, and the emulsion with Sauter mean particle size of 0.65 μm was obtained by using 0.16 μm external membrane element. The specific surface areas were 3.78 m²·g^-1 and 10.8 m²·g^-1, respectively fit for extractive reaction and biphasic reaction.