Reduction of membrane fouling in the ultrafiltration of binary protein mixtures

It is well known that separation efficiency and solute rejection change when two or more proteins are ultrafiltered. This phenomenon is primarily due to membrane fouling and is not significantly influenced by concentration polarization. If membrane fouling is the dominant resistance, then negative transmembrane pressure pulsing might significantly reduce this barrier. A study was performed to determine the effect of negative transmembrane pressure pulsing on solute rejection for an albumin and gamma-globulin mixture in ultrafiltration. Pulsing improved solute flux for all cross-flow rates investigated including turbulent conditions by as much as two orders of magnitude. Under certain pulsing conditions, substantially higher solute flux was obtained for operations involving increased concentration polarization. This study reveals that negative transmembrane pressure pulsing can be effective in lowering the solute flux resistance that is observed in binary protein mixture ultrafiltration.

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