Monolithic membrane filtration structure

A monolithic membrane-type filtration structure for filtering liquids, comprising:

• a support formed of a porous inorganic material of permeability Ks, said support having a tubular overall shape with a main axis, an upstream base, a downstream base, a peripheral wall delimiting an internal part;
• a plurality of passages parallel to the main axis of the support, formed in the internal part of the support, said passages being separated from one another by internal walls formed of the porous inorganic material;
• all said passages being open at their upstream or downstream ends in a direction in which said liquid circulates,
• the filtered liquid being removed via said peripheral wall,
• a membrane of permeability Km and of mean thickness tm covering the internal surface of the passages;
• wherein an external hydraulic diameter of the monolithic membrane-type filtration structure Øf satisfies the relationship (1):
• Øf=α×[A+B×log10(Ks×tm/Km)] (1)
• in which α is a coefficient comprised between 0.85 and 1.15, and
• A=−21570×eint2−18.6×Dh+19.0×eint−2.5×eext+0.1244
• B=−11760×Dh×eint+9.7×eint+3.1×eext+0.04517
• in which:
• Dh is the mean hydraulic diameter of the passages,
• eint is the minimum thickness of the internal walls between the passages and eint is from 0.3 mm to 3 mm,
• eext is the minimum thickness of the peripheral wall of the filter and eext is from 0.5 mm to 4 mm, tm, Øf, eint, eext and Dh being expressed in meters and Ks and Km being expressed in m2, and
• wherein the external hydraulic diameter Øf of the support is from 30 mm to 100 mm.