Abstract
The depletion of native oil components from semisynthetic metalworking fluids (MWFs) during microfiltration is caused in part by the deposition of the MWF components on the pore walls, a mechanism that also results in the decline of the filtration rate of MWF over time. Simulated experiments with a fluid dynamic model that considers interparticle and particle-wall interactions show that membrane pore walls' surface charge density can be tailored to reduce system flux decline. However, results of the model show that the tailored membrane pore design may still see depletion of the oil components from the filtered MWF due to oil components being trapped in a suspended position above the pore mouth.