Increasing efficiency of membrane separation processes.

In order to provide proper nutrition for the increasing population, more food is required which in turn increases the demand for production, processing etc. This however, requires energy and studies have shown that the amount of energy consumed by the food industry in the Netherlands amounts to 90PJ. Therefore, there is need to come up with processing methods that are less energy intensive hence reducing the demand on energy and if possible the amount of water used during processing. If the demand for energy is cut by 50%, it will not only benefit the industries but also the society and the environment at large. In this project, membrane separation processes will be employed. There are several types of membranes but microfiltration membranes will be used and described in length. Microfiltration membranes have been used in mild fractionation of milk meaning separation of milk into casein and whey protein in their native form. This has shown benefits such as obtaining native products that are free from chemicals as opposed to conventional methods namely acidification and precipitation. In this project, spiral wound and hollow fibre microfiltration membranes will be used for fractionation of skim milk. The main aim of this project is to study membrane separation processes via experimental and modelling works so as to develop processes that are energy intensive. These membranes will be evaluated on their separation efficiency for further development. This project lead to design rules for protein fractionation using membranes.