Studies on microfiltration of binary protein mixtures

Abstract

Membrane fouling by protein mixtures during microfiltration has been investigated for binary protein mixtures, including BSA and lysozyme, BSA and casein, and BSA and ovalbumin. Filtration experiments were carried Out using 0.2 mum polycarbonate track-etched (PCTE) membrane in a stirred cell. It was found that the pore blockage- cake formation model was successfully applied to flux decline data in binary protein mixture system. The flux increases as the percentage of lysozyme in the mixture increases. However, the initial flux of BSA-casein mixtures was observed to decrease with increasing casein concentration partially due to the rapid casein adsorption on the membrane OF surface. It call be concluded that casein plays an important role in the flux decline of protein mixtures.