DOUBLE MEMBRANE ULTRAFILTRATION APPARATUS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000200170007-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 13, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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by L. A. Potkov
Mikrobiologiya, Vol XX, No 4, pp 343-347,
Russian Bi-mo`per, Jul/Aug 1951
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1) OUb 1 MB1tA + LIL AF ~IJ RA'T QN APk'AI ATUS
Iao A0 Pot1Zov
Today'Io1iuwtiter i ddterminad by tha fermentrr mathod ar
by the raethod off; doter~nini,ng theoli-index by iitering the water
through 3, mi1ii.ner diameter mernbrane ul.trilter,s.
the ferront::. method is CWnbersome, labor"conswri.i.ng,
relatively prceiue. Testting with the aid of membrane
I1$ is l.cncawn)
and on:y
uitratLit ersy
on the other hand, is a method that would have to be considered the
most perfect in principle, if' only the work did not become compli?
catc.d by too small a diameter in the ul:trafilters (3y millimeters)
and singiF;Mstage filtration,
~'
W he small diameter of ultrafilters only fo "'
1 x m~.n7r
mum amounts of water, for example lO milliliters, with a negli-'
four on each dish. x 'ics a.ry, .t i possible to count the
r'~ G; e: ra Y ~f
colonies growing on the srnaL 1 ultrafil.ter,s and o separate them out
gamble microbe content. If IOO'.2OO milliliters of water or more have
'' ".,.': 1r1'r'1 '.~ y1 r#,~V ' r
to be filtered, i b must be divided into many umaU 'oun.J? and
filtered 2O miiiiliter,s at, a tine. 1?'ter, being i'iltered through
.. S ?, 4:', 4. r. -, 4. f 5'
ultraf hers of small diameter, t y ar`e placed on a culture medium,
/\
only when the water o 4,'
r other liquid being tested contains a eg-ligM
44e quantity of bacteria and suspended partic1esM
&. ..;.1, y '~ .L
.hand, even' as a result af' filtering only 25-'50 milliliters, such
an enormous amount of colonies grow on the surface of the ultra-
fi.l.ter that they can neither be counted nor separated out, especially
ec.
,~ p i.ally
i:f a large deposit of suspended particles forms on the surfof
a.r ,e of
the ultrafilter, hiding the colonies of bacterian
i? (A''ri
STAT
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La o: dc~r to e1;ixr1inat r 'the dF~ ect ~ de e ibed above,' ire
tgetultx'as::ia,te:1 w,'L't s :L~;~;e d:L utiet ix', 8 r i.~.li~netc~ 's,
r
c~c~
wha.a, ii uids with a corx~33id(r bie r~jrrc~U t or suspended
e , lor teaGa,,~ ~,
we ,ted First ?i~:-~ex'in; ',brow 17 coarsewpOred ? 1'
I~~.c.l,C,-ay -~ll~~.af,M
tGra o f,/
Ihc:rr, thtu1tra.l'Gc~i,s placed on ia standarc1w
size 100 rr tilimeter Petri dish (':LU a dense culture) , it actually
coves the whole working area, oi' the Petr:i. clish, ieaving an open
space oi' about ti;Lx ri il:l.,ixneters around the c ixc~~,un;l'c.rf:;nr.ca~ This
space aCe :r. nE2(,E?~?c3ry J:or~ corx1~.tC'bly' placing the ultx'aii'iter on the
.~ a
of the dcne culture (without the formation of ai:c bubblr~s),
auz Cac,c.
and for ' ix c1?i ' rerrrovinI r the u];t;raf:i..lter growing to the sur'fr.ce ai'
~
the eultu~re o
The 37 rn I.lixaetc:r di, meter :i.ncroaSes the area of the ultra-
filter ,:4 Lx times in CO]npE~ri.5Of with the areri of t;he 3 millimeter
uitraf:Libor being used now. Consequently, we do kind of simulw
taneous filtration through six small i:ilters, In this wa r, i.C we
can put max::imuni of i'our araall falters on onc; Petri. dish, then,
if we put 0110 large ultr~ifilter on the Petri dash we have a growth
of c0 ie~ ~ riot on !.our but on Brix ultraflter , ?o es, 0 percent
r
~.an.
more. In addition, it is much easier to count and sepaxatc out the
0lonaes on the :Large uit,xai'ilter, The la 'ge amount o?' colonies
c
heaped together ed to. ether and fused on the email ultraiiltEr ].ck such advan
tages o
The second dei'ect of the method in use fOW i.s singi~f'stage
?iitrat,ion, rr'his is the i"orxaation of a deposi'b of susp0nded
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po.xtic1F:s on the surJ'aco o;f the u1traf'iltor which h clcVI di,3"
t:l.nguichl.rig rpaxr~tin out, a,fld COUfatl.nC thc~ coioflie grOwl,n of~
Such a clapast usuallY ~,~ ~oxme:d
the surfce of the u1trafi1~er
wlacf, tiratcrs ,f,xorrt natuxa1 xes xvoi.xs u cI such aeon'alcohol
1~npuxif ~.ed
ic cira.nks aN lcvaa~~~, cranbe~- x ~ icetc., aorrtai.niflg suapenclF"d
parUi.c;lcs, arc f1.l:l;execl. To elitna.nctt~e tha,wcfect era suggestcd (i.n
1936) sa. Y111.tai'ioou$ doubtFr ',sba, c fil:bxbion and we first made thc
m ~
cuc-xeMmFrs1led fi1tCX' in 1936, c 11irig it the 'rpre1ltrri,nary~i or
a way that bacteria of the typhoid intestinal.
Irprfllteru such ~
e. in s
x()up passed rough it while the 7u3perLded partic1e1~ Were held backs
~water go 'au gh the 1arof i1ter and becoming puxl.f' L(Cl of suspended
~.n~r , t1~ ~,
particles Lterns much mare c;a.3ily through ba,.aic filter No 3 on
aparticles fa.
bacteria, planted thFrre as a result of.' u.Ltrafiitr~a:bion, are
wlaa.ch the r
growing u1tvre: face of the incrustation of suspgrowing and forming g , pure c
p a~ytic1es e
'~, uxe 1.~ Double N1 mbrane Ultra iltr ion A pfi1tus
1o Bunker funnel,; 20 Comer of funnel; 3m Tapered passage;
Li.. Ir regul.~~.t .. nut , ? ? Funnel' 7hapod muff; 6. Bottom funnel.;
. r ~'shaped ~
r ~ 8r Cfy 1inderring9.inner tube (for wa'ber);
'~~ Z+ramewark with xr~F;~~, ~
lOo Outer tube (vd rcuum); iii Vacuur~ rock; 12m Collector; 13a Obser-
v window; fl irregularly-shaped nut; i. Drain cock.
~,a.or~ ~
rJ which makes membrano ultrafilter's today' began, to
The fa.cta
se"meshed membrane filters but they were for inter-'
maflti1ac. dux F: c a ar
ceptiny; plankton and the eggs of inte,stina1 worms. we tried to use
the so-called plankton filter instead of our preilters, but unfor-'
1.l.ed p
.unatel.Y many of the experiments conducted gave unsatiefaCtarY
~
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i'e tit bQeause the plaalk'tof f1tax' ~ have c tx'eme Y ifeven par$.
Bo r}.uGe of this dQf dot, such a filter', -~h m used t pre f filter,
holds bac>=a not only 1 `ge portions of suspended p rtie1es but also
bacteria which should h.ve pct through and set1t1ed on the
fLeC~ of tho bottom dense u1t.xrt~ii1tcr No 3. Ther^rforea the corrc
p ,s-
! ~ortiofs of thc~ iow r u1treLi1ter appear sterile. This
ondir~ ~
purely techn,Lc71 defect in thc: production of ultrafiiters crttn not
eensure they method of doublei'i1tri,tion in the bacterio1ogicri1
tenting of water. 'the necessity or .and txiU exp ?ri ence of such a
method ahoUld be stimulus to the direotox' o?' the ?'~tctor'y for
ntembr'ane uitrafit,er y to master the production of pr efi1ters Which
sati$iy the corn sponding technical requirements.
+ L re 2, Stage of the bottom furttnei with supporting mesh
~ :e 3. Upper Fiat cylinder-ring with supporting mesh
Tlie method which we proposed, of double membrane u1trafiitx w
Lion through large'di peter ul.trI'i1ters, can be accomplished with
the help of al apparatus of ne~a design. (Gce our disc ez't& tion. of
19Lt.6 "Methods of Bater:i.o1ogica1 Testing of Drinking and Sewage
Waters for the Presence of the Typho~.,d-Paratyphoid Group.'' (Cen'
tray. Medical Library of the Ministry of Pubic Health). From
Figure 1 it is evident that our newly designed apparatus consists
of the following part: s bunker funnel 1 with c over 2 a which is
fastened by the tapered passage 3 and the irregularly-shaped nut
L to the funnel shaped muff of the filtering part of the apparatus
the middle unit,
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xaasuits because the plankton ,flters have e~ctxema,.. uneven pore.
c tit~lM~ ai' this defer t~ such a f i1tea', when used ab a pref i,1t,er,
hold-F back not oniy 1r s portions of suspended partic1c o but .1io
baci z*ia which should have passed through and ~ett1ed on the sux"
fw:c; of the bottom dense ua.tr7ii1ter' No 3. Therefore, the corres-
pondin ; portions of the 1awer uitre fiber appear sterile. This
pur&.y techn:lca'! defect in the production of uitrafi1ters ertn not
censure the racthod of double filtration in the bacterio1ogicri1
testing of water. The necessity for arid 'tkie experi encc of such a
method should bc~ a stimulus to the directors of the factory for
rnembra,nt; utra.l'ii erto mater the production of prefilter
atiufy the corrcasponding teChfllCa1 requirc:ment.
~iur2. Stage of the bottom funnel with supporting mesh
Figure 3. Upper 11a,t cylinder 'ring with supporting mesh
`fhe method tJhich we proposed, Of' double rnembr~ane ultrafIltra~
tion through Lxge-diameter u]trZilters, can be accomplished with
the heip of an. appa.r'atus of new design. (See our dissex'tatiOn of
l9Li.6 UMethods of i3ater:loiogical Testing of Drinking and Sewage
Waters for the Presence of the Typho~:,a-Pax'atyphoid Group.(Cen-
tray Medical Library' of the Ministry of Public Health) o From
Figure 1 it is evident that our newly designed apparatus consist,
of the following parts s bunker funnel l with c over 2, which is
fastened by the tapered passage 3 and the irreguiaxJ,y-shapcd nut
4 to the funne1~shaped muff of the filtering part of the apparatus
the middle unit.
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0398000200170007-5
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Tho middle unit conits of the f o1,l,ewirrg preipaL past r
the bottom f unncal into which the supporting fxarrle with tha r~~asl~ i
ure 1, 6i and Fi uxe 2). When work is brit done,
i,nr~ertacl (~i.~
iltex No 3 is pissed orn this ru ii A doubie
double membrane ultraf
rixr~ in the shape o: flat cylinder, the upper pert of which has
ortin . mesh fox the prof i1ter Figur e la 8
the frame ~rt?th the supp
and Figure 3 .n,caned in it, i$ placad on the bottom ?unne1 with
~
frame and mesho 't'he entire middle unit is covered
?the supporting
with a one piece funnelw-haped muff (Figure 1, ) which: i,s r~onneoted,
as is shown above;, by its upper part to the bunker funnel (Figure
1,1) and is bolted hexanetic alit' on the bottom by butted 1.y bolas
to the bottom funnel (.Figure l., 6 and Figure 2). rj'he latter ends
double tubeo The inner tubs (Figux'e 1, 9) is the one through
in a
the filtered liquid flowse 't'he outer tube (k'igure 1, 10) is
which
a vacu~11fl and is used to ere tite a vacuum through the vacuum cock
Fi ru:r^e ii) in the co11E:ctox' (Figure 1, 12) . The vacuum cock makes
it possLb e not to lose energy' through continuous; pwupi.ng out oil
the a,i.r during the entire filtration. When the vacuum has been
created, it se1ls itself' and one c7n s top pumping out the air bew
cause the vacuum created in the collector will be preserved.
For technica1 reasons, at that time we peri'oxmed only ori.en-'
Cation experiments on the ultraf iltration oi' watex' contaminated with
~O I~
a mixture of bacteria, consisting of typhoid, paratyphoid, i~-e.~i~.n-
ctic;
&. bacilli, aid--proteus.
The ultrafiltration was done in an apparatus of our own design
through ultrai'ilter No 3. The ratio between the cu,l,tures was as
follows : into 2S0 milliliters of sterile tap water we put approxi-
mately lL microbe cells each of the caws/ organism of typhoid. and
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Ql~
and p a31 ~typha id 13 and 1000 ~ni,oxCabe cc;a,1s eaah pf ~~~1,L bacilli
ac:e?xdin~ to the optic s't~nda,rd) . ~eter
arad, PratGus yul~axis
t tic~n pC the water 'thxcau~~h mea~brc,rte ~~~.t'a-
?
1,~; a, rt ~aa.a~. cor~taar~in
ter were placed on ~ismuthwsti1iphi;tc agar in
latter ,
fllters 1Vp 3, 'the
Na.nl,eui. E' k~aaa.ricub~~t~.an a't 37 de"
;;ref;s, c~ five ~ five mod GG~'r~i?.c.rs :~ta. ~ arx~ typhoid b cil1i were separated. In additi()n
o
A arnaUult Of ye;1.lc~wisla"gxefkx~ ,end bx-r~~mishwgreen
to 'tl~~.s~ a ne~l~,~ib:l.G % c, 1 ti
ca:larLa.es of saprophY'tic mieraf1ora (inetiria1 b&Giiii and Proteus
the culture After 1.~8 hours the mount and s:lzes
'Vll~.g c ~ ~?5 u ~ grew on
of a1,l the colonies incrF 3sed cot1side -fbly. A secondary i.n-~pectiof
us the chance to eparte Uut three more colonies
x the da.R3he,3 give
a-a~,
of the bacteria id and eight colonies es of tie bacteria of
p7,xat ~pe~^am~;r~~ta were made in u;l.~tral.tex5 72 ma.~,.i~
~'pl~oxd B ? the c~~~
me?k.ers in diax,ieter o
k Bottom. insertion piece with small supporting mesh
f
Upper su porting; ring with small deta.Ch&ble suppart~
~'
ing mash
In the next models the diameter of the uitralitcrs was in'
creased to 82 1iimeters while the i'inal variant had a maximum
diameter ter of 87 millimeters with respect to the existing standard
Petri dish, which has a diameter of 100 millimeterso
T1".1erE? can b e cases when there is no need to use the large fil'
-traton areas which we proposed ~ and then one can confine anseU to
~.
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s,rta11 fibers with a 3 mi11insrtor di,~netex.
For such ca, specriL1 insertiOf piecQS are included in our'
apparatus. The bottonm rash i taken out and in its placo p1a~e
is ir~~~ ~ertd, the center of which has a me h piece 30 ma? Lime tars in
c
d,Lunoter (Figure liv) For doub1r~ ?ilt,ration the middle cylindor' with
~
y 1arc;o ci.i.anlpter meal) is rep/ cad with another cylinder with a.
the
siaall, 30 millimeter diameter mesh ('igure ) a
All the parts of our apparatus are made of stainlcstell
or brass, ~tnd in the latter case are chrome-'plcted, both inside and
out? Thanks to this, the entire apparatus lends itse1 to an ex~
tremely simple method of stc;rilization "'u passing all the parts
through a flame Gf'1 ~trnbirovanifci .
The given apparatus is portable o It fits into a case which
also holds ill the apparatus needed for making tests outside the
laboratory, at the place from which thy: specimen is taken. This
apparatus consists of the f'ol1owin,s a Sh nts vacuum pump (veloc-
ipede ipede type), an apparatus for boiled ultrafiiters (a round, meta1
sterilizer with a cover and an alcohol lamp with a collapsible
tripod), forceps, and a box of ultra*ilterSm
Steri:Lizer.
Just a f W wards about the sterilizer we suggest.
It is a round aluminum bath with a diameter of 120 milli-
meters and a height of 90 millimeters, with a cover with a, wooden
knob (Figure 6)' Inside the bath, twothirds up, its height a
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disks with t largo number of round oponin,s (8-9O) 5 mii1ianotors
in di.urrieter, is p1ac~d. The disk: has i co1iap ib1e `handle by which
it is placed in and removed from the bath. Th? bath is intended for
siraui,taaeQUS stari1i,2aatiorl of ui,trafiit.vrs and supporting rashes by
boiling, since the suppartin resh owmnot Sao passed through a i'1 e
because of tk~a danger of its melting.
The Petri dishes with the correspor~din~ dense euitures are
plaeed in a spe:cia.1 box, w1iich is :i.n another c ?s?, alone, with
stcirile vials for the specimens of the tested liquid and a co3.1aps
ible bathometer of Dianova arid. Voroshilovdesign, (The bathometer
of Ye, V. Dianova and. A. A, Voroshi.lova design is used in several
institutes. Its description was published in the Inforrnatsionni, e
ma eria (Information) of the Institute imeni Erism n in l9 U),
The descri.bed apparatus and method also make it possible to
conduct the required tests even on expeditions. It makes analyses
con;aiderably easier cnc1 improves their quality, since time lapses
between the moment the specimen is taken dnd the time; it is tested
are c:Lirn Lnateds
C0NCLUS10NS
1. The use of the proposed apparatus considerably eases the
technique for the bacteriological t esting of large quantities of
~ . v`?, '
water. It should increase the s~.ng out of pathogenic bacteria
of the t ?& group in the bacteriological testing of water axed
make the bacter:Lologi,caJ. t esting of drinks with laxge quantities of
suspended particles easier and more accurate0
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2, Tha prQJ)osed method Cox dete 'minin tha'hpii'index isi
in a eertat s rise, ct combins,tiQn v' the method o coneer~tratjon
a:t: bacteria on mernbr~mne uitrMJ i1ter'u and Maxmari' methoo, but it
s
i/far rrlore simpic~ end QL'J'ectiva moc it'ic ation,
Received 20 February 19O Central Scient 'ic''Rcse rch Sanitation
Institute imeni Eris~nan
Moscow
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