Characterization of exponential permeate flux by technical parameters during fouling and membrane cleaning by electric field

Assessing performance of skim milk ultrafiltration by using technical parameters

“…As previously discussed (Tarazaga et al, 2006b), Fig. 1 shows the general case of a permeate flux curve with a steady state component (J ss ) and the main quantities used in this analysis.…”

“…This parameter is one of the parameters that physically describes the permeate flux's exponential decay and is related to physicochemical feed properties -such as concentration, molecular size and shape, and to the characteristics of the UF process as defined by Jaffrin et al (1997) and Tarazaga et al (2006b). Conveniently expressing k in this manner and introducing Eq.…”

“…The efficiency of the filtrating process has been defined as g v , which relates the permeate volume during the interval of time s v (time necessary for a 99% fall in the variable permeate flux, from its initial value) with the permeate volume if the membrane has not become dirty (Tarazaga et al, 2006b). This parameter raises when there is an increment in the stable flux J ss and s v , and a decrease in the fouling potential of the system, according to the following expression:…”

“…The aim of this work is to apply a mathematical model previously developed by us (Tarazaga et al, 2006b) to characterize the permeate flux decline that occurs during the ultrafiltration process of skim milk in the context of different experimental conditions (transmembrane pressure and temperature). The model describes some technical parameters that can interpret ultrafiltration phenomena and membrane fouling.…”

Membrane Cleaning

“…Polarization concentration and fouling of the membranes became a reversible phenomenon due to application of electric fields in different cycles, allowing to recover permeate initial flux in all the experiments. Even more, some studies state that the use of electric fields has demonstrated that the initial permeate flux of protein UF fouled membranes can be restored almost instantaneously by means of an exponential curve (Tarazaga et al, 2006b). Application of an electric field used to be very effective for protein separation, because they present an electric charge that helps protein separation by ultrafiltration (Saxena et al, 2009).…”