Filtration system with macroporous support and gasketed membrane filter

A filtration system with a non-flexible macroporous support and gasketed membrane filter, comprising:

• a body chamber comprising an inlet end and a filter end;
• a feed inlet disposed on the inlet end of the body chamber;
• a feed distribution tube fluidly connected to the feed inlet comprising a distribution inlet end and a distribution outlet end and comprising one or more feed outlet openings through which a feed may pass into the body chamber;
• a retentate outlet fluidly connected to the body chamber and located at the inlet end of the body chamber;
• a filter assembly comprising:
• a filter located at the filter end of the body chamber and oriented substantially perpendicular to the feed distribution tube,
• the non-flexible macroporous support in contact with a portion of the filter;
• and
• a filter assembly gasket located between the body chamber and the filter assembly at the filter end of the body chamber, wherein the filter assembly gasket is in the form of an annular ring aligned with a peripheral edge of the non-flexible macroporous support and a peripheral edge of the filter;
• a filter cap which interfaces with the filter end of the body chamber and secures the filter assembly to the filter end of the body chamber, wherein the filter cap has a circumferential internal shoulder protruding from an internal wall of the filter cap to form a resting surface to contact and hold the filter assembly;
• wherein:
• the feed distribution tube passes through a center of the body chamber in a direction substantially parallel to a length of the body chamber and has a feed distribution tube length sufficient to cause the feed to enter the body chamber at a feed start point such that a feed distance measured from the filter assembly to the feed start point is less than an entrance distance measured from the feed start point to the feed inlet;
• and
• the filtration system is configured such that the feed may flow into the feed inlet, through the feed distribution tube, and out through the one or more feed outlet openings such that the feed flows across the filter in a direction substantially parallel to a surface of the filter assembly where the filter is configured to split the feed into a filtrate and a retentate, the filtrate passing through the filter assembly and the retentate flowing through the body chamber in a direction substantially antiparallel to the feed flow through the feed distribution tube and out through the retentate outlet.