Abstract
A curved channel duct is designed, built and used specifically to produce Dean vortices as a result of flow around a $180^{\circ}C$ curve. We present evidence using optical reflection of the existmace of the vortices in the curved section and following flat section. Also, three different feed soludons(DI water, a monodispersed styrene-divinyl-benzene latex particle suspension and a yeast suspension) were used to determine the effectiveness of Dean instabilities to destabilize polarization layers. For each suspension, the flux data were compared as a function of time for flow conditions with and without Dean vortices, for a $0.2{\mu}m$ microfiltration membrane. Any permeation flux improvement was not sustained for $2.0De_c$ due to the vortex-decay in the flat section after the curved channel, but a 15~30% permeation improvement was obtained for $3.8De_c$.