{
  "abstract": "Water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion treatment is challenging because efficient membrane separation requires simultaneous control of oil transport, water rejection, interfacial interactions, and fouling resistance. However, the coupled effects of operating pressure and cross-flow hydrodynamics on membrane pore accessibility, foulant-layer evolution, and the permeability-rejection trade-off during cyclic W/O emulsion treatment remain insufficiently understood. In this study, an electrospun mesoporous polyurethane-melamine/polyethersulfone (PES-PUMA) membrane was evaluated for the separation of stabilized W/O emulsions under different operating pressures and feed flow rates. At an ultra-low pressure of 20 kPa, the membrane achieved an oil permeate flux of 36.5 ± 2.7 L m⁻² h⁻¹ and water rejection of 93.1 ± 2.1%. Increasing the operating pressure to 100 kPa increased the oil permeate flux to 87.6 ± 3.5 L m⁻² h⁻¹ while decreasing water rejection to 78.2 ± 1.8%. Increasing the cross-flow rate from 0.05 to 0.5 mL s⁻¹ increased the oil permeate flux from 23.4 ± 0.7 to 90.7 ± 2.1 L m⁻² h⁻¹ while decreasing water rejection from 95.3 ± 2.1% to 78.4 ± 1.2%. Quadratic regression models revealed significant nonlinear relationships between hydraulic operating conditions and both separation responses, providing a quantitative description of the pressure- and flow-dependent performance trade-off. Higher cross-flow reduced foulant-layer thickness and favored more reversible fouling, whereas increasing operating pressure promoted pore constriction and compact foulant deposition. These findings establish a quantitative pressure-cross-flow-transport-fouling relationship, demonstrating that hydraulic conditions jointly regulate membrane permeability, water rejection, foulant-layer development, and fouling reversibility. This study therefore provides mechanistic and quantitative insight into optimizing the operation of the established PES-PUMA membrane to balance separation performance and fouling resistance during W/O emulsion treatment.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Chemical Engineering Department, Hamedan University of Technology, Hamedan 65155, Iran.",
    "Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Petroleum Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan 65155, Iran."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alireza Bahramian",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4929-3460"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sedigheh Alavinia",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5421-777X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/frnw9tg62mesp.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/membranes16100350",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13707103",
  "id": "frnw9tg62mesp",
  "issns": [
    "2077-0375"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931028",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2312|Membrane Separation Technologies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221536031",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13707103?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13707103",
  "pmid": "42931028",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/frnw9tg62mesp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42931028",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931028"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2312|Membrane Separation Technologies",
      "subfield": "hydrology-soils"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Pressure and Cross-Flow Dependent Interfacial Fouling of Mesoporous PES-PUMA Membranes During Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation.",
  "title_text": "Pressure and Cross-Flow Dependent Interfacial Fouling of Mesoporous PES-PUMA Membranes During Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/frnw9tg62mesp",
  "venue": "Membranes",
  "versions": []
}