Bassam F. Jirjis

Practical Aspects of Membrane System Design in Food and Bioprocessing Applications

Publisher Summary Membrane technology finds many applications in food processing, water purification, and wastewater treatment. In food processing, most applications involve pressure-driven membrane processes, such as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). When a feed inlet stream enters a membrane module with a composition and a flow rate, it is separated into two streams: a permeate stream, which passes through the membrane, and the fraction retained, called retentate. The main performance indices that describe the process in membrane systems are permeation rate (flux) and selectivity. The target of the separation should be first considered in order to select the appropriate membrane separation technique. Membrane selection should be based on the separation target within the constraints of the specific application. Both membrane characteristics and the way the membrane is used have to be considered such as for UF, membranes hydrophobicity and pore size (or MWCO) play an important role in the separation that can be achieved. For each application, bench-scale and pilot-scale tests have to be carried out to understand the performance of the membrane process over time.