In the present work

oil-in-water emulsions were prepared with toluene-water as working system

sodium lauryl sulfate as emulsifier

and α-Al2O3 ceramic membrane with pore size of 1.5 μm as emulsifying medium in a new submerged emulsification apparatus. The effects of stirring speed

transmembrane pressure and emulsifier concentration on the droplet size of emulsions and its distribution as well as the dispersed phase flux were studied. The experimental results showed that monodispersed oil-in-water emulsions could be obtained with the ceramic membrane emulsification system. With the increase of stirring speed and emulsifier concentration

mean droplet size and the span of the droplet size distribution decreased

and the dispersed phase flux hardly changed at the same time.However

mean droplet size and the span of the droplet size distribution increased

and the dispersed phase flux increased significantly with the increase of transmembrane pressure. A linear relationship between the dispersed phase flux and transmembrane pressure at low pressures was obtained.