Fouling mechanisms during protein microfiltration: The effects of protein structure and filtration pressure on polypropylene microporous membrane performance

Document Type : Original research

Authors

1 Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

2 Membrane Technology Research Center, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

A polypropylene microporous membrane (PPMM) was fabricated by thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. The effects of protein size and structure as well as filtration pressure on the membrane performance and fouling mechanisms were investigated using two different proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and collagen, in dead-end filtration setup. Obtained results showed that, for each protein filtration, increasing the operational pressure led to higher irreversible fouling ratio (IFR) and consequently lower flux recovery (FR). Moreover, in collagen filtration, the higher portion of the total fouling ratio (TFR) belonged to reversible fouling ratio (RFR) and the FR of membrane in collagen solution filtration was higher than that in BSA solution filtration at the same operational pressure. The FR values were about 42.48 and 56.32% at 2 bar, 52.28 and 64.53% at 1.5 bar and 65.97 and 75.83% at 0.75 bar for BSA and collagen solutions filtrations, respectively. Investigation of the fouling mechanisms using Hermia's models showed that the cake filtration mechanism of fouling turned to pore blocking mechanism in both proteins filtrations by increasing the operational pressure. Obtained results using combined fouling models for all filtration processes confirmed that the cake filtration-standard blocking model (CFSBM) was the prevailing mechanism, whilst the contribution of standard blockage increased by increasing the operational pressure.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Mulder M (1996) Basic principles of membrane technology Kluwer Academic Publishers, Second ed
  2. Ulbricht M (2006) Advanced functional polymer membranes. Polymer 47: 2217-2262
  3. Hilal N, Ogunbiyi OO, Milles JN, Nigmatullin R (2005) Methods employed for control of fouling in MF and UF membranes: A comprehensive re­view. Separ Sci Tech 40: 1957-2005
  4. Xu Q, Yang J, Dai J, Yang Y, Chen X, Wang Y (2013) Hydrophilization of porous polypropylene membranes by atomic layer deposition of TiO2 for simultaneously improved permeability and selectivity. J Membrane Sci 448: 215-222
  5. Yu H-Y, Xu Z-K, Lei H, Hu M-X, Yang Q (2007) Photoinduced graft polymerization of acrylamide on polypropylene microporous membranes for the improvement of antifouling characteristics in a submerged membrane-bioreactor. Separ Purif Tech 53: 119-125
  6. Hu M-X, Yang Q, Xu Z-K (2006) Enhancing the hydrophilicity of polypropylene microporous membranes by the grafting of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate via a synergistic effect of photoini­tiators. J Membrane Sci 285: 196-205
  7. van de Witte P, Dijkstra PJ, van den Berg JWA, Feijen J (1996) Phase separation processes in polymer solutions in relation to membrane forma­tion. J Membrane Sci 117: 1-31
  8. Strathmann H, Kock K (1977) The formation mechanism of phase inversion membranes. De­salination 21: 241-255
  9. K Pubby A, S H Rizvi S, Maria Sastre A (2009) Handbook of membrane separations: Chemical, pharmaceutical, food and biotechnological appli­cations, CRC Press
  10. Zhu X, Loo H-E, Bai R (2013) A novel membrane showing both hydrophilic and oleophobic surface properties and its non-fouling performances for potential water treatment applications. J Mem­brane Sci 436: 47-56
  11. Xia B, Zhang G, Zhang F (2003) Bilirubin remov­al by Cibacron Blue F3GA attached nylon-based hydrophilic affinity membrane. J Membrane Sci 226: 9-20
  12. Bottino A, Capannelli G, Turchini A, Della Valle P, Trevisan M (2002) Integrated membrane pro­cesses for the concentration of tomato juice. De­salination 148: 73-77
  13. Morão A, Brites Alves AM, Cardoso JP (2001) Ultrafiltration of demethylchlortetracycline in­dustrial fermentation broths. Separ Purif Technol 22–23: 459-466
  14. Alves AMB, Morão A, Cardoso JP (2002) Isola­tion of antibiotics from industrial fermentation broths using membrane technology. Desalination 148: 181-186
  15. Kelly ST, Zydney AL (1995) Mechanisms for BSA fouling during microfiltration. J Membrane Sci 107: 115-127
  16. Shen J-n, Li D-d, Jiang F-y, Qiu J-h, Gao C-j (2009) Purification and concentration of collagen by charged ultrafiltration membrane of hydrophil­ic polyacrylonitrile blend. Separ Purif Techol 66: 257-262
  17. Yan M-G, Liu L-Q, Tang Z-Q, Huang L, Li W, Zhou J, Gu J-S, Wei X-W, Yu H-Y (2008) Plasma surface modification of polypropylene microfil­tration membranes and fouling by BSA disper­sion. Chem Eng J 145: 218-224
  18. Wang Y-N,Tang CY (2011) Protein fouling of nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultrafiltration membranes—The role of hydrodynamic condi­tions, solution chemistry, and membrane proper­ties. J Membrane Sci 376: 275-282
  19. Voswinkel L,Kulozik U (2014) Fractionation of all major and minor whey proteins with radial flow membrane adsorption chromatography at lab and pilot scale. Int Dairy J 39: 209-214
  20. Schoenbeck I, Graf AM, Leuthold M, Pastor A, Beutel S, Scheper T (2013) Purification of high value proteins from particle containing potato fruit juice via direct capture membrane adsorp­tion chromatography. J Biotechnol 168: 693-700
  21. Galier S, Balmann HR-d (2011) The electropho­retic membrane contactor: A mass- transfer-based methodology applied to the separation of whey proteins. Separ Purif Technol 77: 237-244
  22. Zeman JL, Zydney LA. (1996) Microfiltration and ultrafiltration: Principles and applications, Taylor & Francis
  23. Saxena A, Tripathi BP, Kumar M, Shahi VK (2009) Membrane-based techniques for the sepa­ration and purification of proteins: An overview. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 145: 1-22
  24. Lin JC-T, Lee D-J, Huang C (2010) Membrane fouling mitigation: Membrane cleaning. Separ Sci Technol 45: 858-872
  25. She Q, Tang CY, Wang Y-N, Zhang Z (2009) The role of hydrodynamic conditions and solution chemistry on protein fouling during ultrafiltra­tion. Desalination 249: 1079- 1087
  26. Hermans P,Bredée H (1936) Principles of the mathematical treatment of constant- pressure fil­tration. J Soc Chem Ind 55: 1-4
  27. Bolton G, LaCasse D, Kuriyel R (2006) Com­bined models of membrane fouling: Develop­ment and application to microfiltration and ul­trafiltration of biological fluids. J Membrane Sci 277: 75-84
  28. Bowen WR,Jenner F (1995) Adv Colloid Inter­face Sci 56: 141
  29. Ng CY, Mohammad AW, Ng LY, Jahim JM (2014) Membrane fouling mechanisms during ultrafiltra­tion of skimmed coconut milk. J Food Eng 142: 190- 200
  30. Hermia J (1982) Constant pressure blocking fil­tration law application to powder law non-New­tonian fluid. Trans Inst Chem Eng 60: 183-187
  31. Hwang K-J, Liao C-Y, Tung K-L (2007) Analysis of particle fouling during microfiltration by use of blocking models. J Membrane Sci 287: 287-293
  32. Rai C, Rai P, Majumdar GC, De S, DasGupta S (2010) Mechanism of permeate flux decline dur­ing microfiltration of watermelon (citrullus lana­tus) juice. Food Bioprocess Technol 3: 545-553
  33. Jafarzadeh Y, Yegani R (2015) Analysis of foul­ing mechanisms in TiO2 embedded high density polyethylene membranes for collagen separation. Chem Eng Res Des 93: 684-695
  34. Jafarzadeh Y, Yegani R, Sedaghat M (2015)Prep­aration, characterization and fouling analysis of ZnO/polyethylene hybrid membranes for colla­gen separation. Chem Eng Res Des 94: 417-427
  35. Golbandi R, Abdi MA, Babaluo AA, Khoshfetrat AB, Mohammadlou T (2013) Fouling study of TiO2–boehmite MF membrane in defatting of whey solution: Feed concentration and pH ef­fects. J Membrane Sci 448: 135-142
  36. Meng H, Cheng Q, Li C (2014) Polyacrylonitrile-based zwitterionic ultrafiltration membrane with improved anti-protein-fouling capacity. Appl Surf Sci 303: 399-405
  37. Kumar M, Ulbricht M (2014) Low fouling nega­tively charged hybrid ultrafiltration membranes for protein separation from sulfonated poly (ar­ylene ether sulfone) block copolymer and func­tionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Se­par Purif Technol 127: 181-191
  38. Bowen WR, Calvo JI, Hernández A (1995) Steps of membrane blocking in flux decline during pro­tein microfiltration. J Membrane Sci 101: 153- 165
  39. Ho C-C, Zydney AL (2000) A combined pore blockage and cake filtration model for protein fouling during microfiltration. J Colloid Interface Sci 232: 389-399
  40. Shokri E, Yegani R, Heidari S, Shoeyb Z (2015) Effect of PE-g-MA compatibilizer on the struc­ture and performance of HDPE/EVA blend mem­branes fabricated via TIPS method. Chem Eng Res Des 100: 237-247
  41. Ahsani M, Yegani R (2015) Study on the fouling behavior of silica nanocomposite modified poly­propylene membrane in purification of collagen protein. Chem Eng Res Des 102: 261-273
  42. Nandi B, Das B, Uppaluri R (2012) Clarifica­tion of orange juice using ceramic membrane and evaluation of fouling mechanism. J Food Proc Eng 35: 403-423
  43. Wakeman RJ, Williams CJ (2002) Additional techniques to improve microfiltration. Separ Purif Technol 26: 3-18
  44. Shirazi S, Lin C-J, Chen D (2010) Inorganic foul­ing of pressure-driven membrane processes - A critical review. Desalination 250: 236-248
  45. Wright A, Thompson M (1975) Hydrodynamic structure of bovine serum albumin determined by transient electric birefringence. Biophys J 15: 137-141

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 27 June 2016
  • Revise Date: 04 October 2016
  • Accept Date: 16 October 2016
  • First Publish Date: 01 June 2017

Share

How to cite

Statistics