Studying the filter-feeding mechanism of mobula rays, engineers developed a new design for industrial cross-flow water filters. Research shows the filter-feeders strike a natural balance between ...

Studying the filter-feeding mechanism of mobula rays, MIT engineers developed a new design for industrial cross-flow water filters.

It turns out the structure of ray plates is similar to industrial cross-flow filters, which are designed to push fluid across permeable membranes to extract particulates.

It’s a process based on cross-flow filtration that isn’t unknown to industrial engineers who use similar filters to generate turbulence to help wash away accumulating particles.

The team wondered whether the mobula ray might inspire design improvements to industrial cross-flow filters. For that, they took a deeper dive into the dynamics of mobula ray filtration.