Improvement of dead-end filtration during crossflow electro-microfiltration of proteins

The separation of proteins remains a problem to be solved on technical points of view. The aim of the presented work was to set up a process strategy to improve the recovery efficiency of proteins by dead-end filtration. One aspect was to investigate the separation of protein in the membrane process under the influence of an electric field. This paper presents the effect that an electric field has on the enhancement of the filtrate flux in an effort to experimentally analyze the permeate performance of a membrane. The concept is further illustrated with an example from the membrane process, which indicates how the filtration time is reduced upon the use of an electric field. The conventional cake filtration theory was used to determine the permeation rate and the resistance of the cake layer in the membrane. From the experimental results, the transmembrane pressure (TMP) was found to be reduced by 20 % in the newly developed technique when the electric field strength increased. The resistance (R-m) in the membrane process in the presence of an electric field was reduced by over 200 % in comparison with the membrane process used in the absence of an electric field. Hydraulic electrofiltration serves as an interesting alternative to crossflow filtration for the separation and purification of proteins.