Evaluation of fouling resistances during the ultrafiltration of whey model solutions

[EN] In the last decades, the ultrafiltration of whey has grown in importance as a "green" technique. However, since fouling is an important drawback, researchers focused on its prediction by mathematical models. In this work, three ultrafiltration membranes of different molecular weight cut-offs and materials were used to ultrafilter whey model solutions of different protein concentrations. As a novelty, a resistance-in-series model that accounts for the time evolution of the fouling resistances was considered. The results demonstrated that the higher the protein and salt concentrations in the feed solutions were, the greater the fouling degree was. The resistance-in-series model was accurately fitted to the experimental data for each membrane and feed solution used. The results showed that the resistance due to adsorption dominated the first minutes of operation, while the membrane characteristics (surface roughness and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity) played an important role in the growth of the cake layer. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors of this work wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through its project CTM2010-20186.Corbatón Báguena, MJ.; Alvarez Blanco, S.; Vincent Vela, MC. (2018). Evaluation of fouling resistances during the ultrafiltration of whey model solutions. Journal of Cleaner Production. 172:358-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.149S35836717

Exploring the extraction of the bioactive content from the two-phase olive mill waste and further purification by ultrafiltration

[EN] The two-phase olive mill waste is enormously produced in the Mediterranean area. This major waste is significantly rich in bioactive compounds that are highly valued by industry, such as phenolic and triterpenic compounds. Here, a thorough study of the most suitable solvent, extraction time and temperature for the largevolume, solid-liquid extraction of bioactive compounds has been made, in order to achieve maximum concentrations of the target compounds. Ultrasound effect has been considered. A deep characterization of the extracts by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-qToF-MS) has contributed to evaluate the effect of the operational parameters on the extraction performance. Forty-four compounds have been found and classified in their corresponding chemical families. At the optimum experimental conditions (EtOH 50% (v/v), 40 degrees C, ultrasound-assisted), more than 6.8 mg/g of bioactive content was recovered, and it was later purified by means of ultrafiltration. The membrane UP005 retained a significant percentage of the organic matter, whereas most of the bioactive compounds were recovered in the permeate. This contributed not only to revalorize this waste, but also to reduce its organic load and phytotoxicity, thus protecting the ecosystem of the final disposal zone of the residue.Funding Grant CTM2017-88645-R, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe. Additionally, the grant PRE2018-08524 was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future. Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Politècnica de València.Sánchez-Arévalo, CM.; Iborra Clar, A.; Vincent Vela, MC.; Alvarez Blanco, S. (2022). Exploring the extraction of the bioactive content from the two-phase olive mill waste and further purification by ultrafiltration. LWT - Food Science and Technology. 165:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.11374211216

Utilization of NaCl solutions to clean ultrafiltration membranes fouled by whey protein concentrates

In this work, whey protein concentrate (WPC) solutions at different concentrations (22.2, 333 and 150 g L-1) were used to foul three ultrafiltration (UF) membranes of different materials and molecular weight cut-offs (MWCOs): a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane of 5 kDa, a ceramic ZrO2-TiO2 membrane of 15 kDa and a permanently hydrophilic polyethersulfone (PESH) membrane of 30 kDa. NaCl solutions at different salt concentrations, temperatures and crossflow velocities were used to clean the UF membranes tested. The cleaning efficiency was related to the MWCO, membrane material and operating conditions during fouling and cleaning steps. NaCl solutions were able to completely clean the membranes fouled with the WPC solutions at the lowest concentration tested. As WPC concentration increased, the hydraulic cleaning efficiency (HCE) decreased. The results demonstrated that an increase in temperature and crossflow velocity of the cleaning solution caused an increase in the HCE. Regarding NaCl concentration, the HCE increased up to an optimal value. As the concentration was greater than this value, the cleaning efficiency decreased. In addition, an equation that correlates the cleaning efficiency to the operating parameters studied in this work (temperature, NaCl concentration, crossflow velocity in the cleaning procedure and WPC concentration during the fouling step) was developed and then, an optimization analysis was performed to determine the values of the parameters that lead to a 100% cleaning efficiency.The authors of this work wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the project CTM2010-20186.Corbatón Báguena, MJ.; Alvarez Blanco, S.; Vincent Vela, MC.; Lora-García, J. (2015). Utilization of NaCl solutions to clean ultrafiltration membranes fouled by whey protein concentrates. Separation and Purification Technology. 150:95-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2015.06.039S9510115

Analysis of two ultrafiltration fouling models and estimation of model parameters as a function of operational conditions

This work analyses the measure of fit of experimental data of permeate flux decline with time for ultrafiltration experiments performed with polyethylene glycol aqueous solutions to two different ultrafiltration models. A feed solution of 5 kg/m of polyethylene glycol and a monotubular ceramic membrane of - were used in the experiments. The first model considered was developed by Ho and Zydney and it considers two different fouling mechanisms: pore blocking and gel layer formation. The second model was proposed by Yee et al. It is an exponential model that considers three stages: concentration polarization, molecule deposition on the membrane surface and long-term fouling. The results show that both models give very accurate predictions for the severe fouling conditions (high transmembrane pressures and low crossflow velocities). However, both models cannot explain the experimental results obtained for all the experimental conditions tested. An equation for Ho and Zydney's model parameters as a function of operating conditions was obtained by means of multiple regression analysis.The authors of this work wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia through the Project No. 2010.1009 and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology through the project CTM2010-20186.Corbatón Báguena, MJ.; Vincent Vela, MC.; Alvarez Blanco, S.; Lora García, J. (2013). Analysis of two ultrafiltration fouling models and estimation of model parameters as a function of operational conditions. Transport in Porous Media. 99(2):391-411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-013-0192-4S391411992Alventosa-deLara, E., Barredo-Damas, S., Alcaina-Miranda, M.I., Iborra-Clar, M.I.: Ultrafiltration technology with a ceramic membrane for reactive dye removal: optimization of membrane performance. J. Hazard. 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Sci. 215, 213–224 (2003)de la Casa, E.J., Guadix, A., Ibáñez, R., Camacho, F., Guadix, E.M.: A combined fouling model to describe the influence of the electrostatic environment on the cross-flow microfiltration of BSA. J. Membr. Sci. 318, 247–254 (2008)Espina, V., Jaffrin, M.Y., Ding, L., Cancino, B.: Fractionation of pasteurized skim milk proteins by dynamic filtration. Food Res. Int. 43, 1335–1346 (2010)Fernández-Sempere, J., Ruiz-Beviá, F., García-Algado, P., Salcedo-Díaz, R.: Visualization and modeling of the polarization layer and a reversible adsorption process in PEG-10000 dead-end ultrafiltration. J. Membr. Sci. 342, 279–290 (2009)Field, R.W., Wu, D., Howell, J.A., Gupta, B.B.: Critical flux concept for microfiltration fouling. J. Membr. Sci. 100, 259–272 (1995)Hermia, J.: Constant pressure blocking filtration laws—application to powerlaw non-Newtonian fluids. Trans. 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Technol. 75, 222–228 (2010)Mondor, M., Girard, B., Moresoli, C.: Modeling flux behaviour for membrane filtration of apple juice. Food Res. Int. 33, 539–548 (2000)Muthukumaran, S., Kentish, S.E., Ashokkumar, M., Stevens, G.W.: Mechanisms for the ultrasonic enhancement of dairy whey ultrafiltration. J. Membr. Sci. 258, 106–114 (2005)Peng, H., Tremblay, A.Y.: Membrane regeneration and filtration modeling in treating oily wastewaters. J. Membr. Sci. 324, 59–66 (2008)Popović, S., Milanović, S., Iličić, M., Djurić, M., Tekić, M.: Flux recovery of tubular ceramic membranes fouled with whey proteins. Desalination 249, 293–300 (2009)Purkait, M.K., DasGupta, S., De, S.: Resistance in series model for micellar enhanced ultrafiltration of eosin dye. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 270, 496–506 (2004)Rinaldoni, A.N., Taragaza, C.C., Campderrós, M.E., Pérez, Padilla A.: Assessing performance of skim milk ultrafiltration by using technical parameters. J. Food Eng. 92, 226–232 (2009)Santafé-Moros, A., Gozálvez-Zafrilla, J.M.: Nanofiltration study of the interaction between bicarbonate and nitrate ions. Desalination 250, 773–777 (2010)Song, L.: Flux decline in crossflow microfiltration and ultrafiltration: mechanisms and modeling of membrane fouling. J. Membr. Sci. 139, 183–200 (1998)Vincent Vela, M.C., Álvarez, Blanco S., Lora, García J., Gozálvez Zafrilla, J.M., Bergantiños, Rodríguez E.: Modelling of flux decline in crossflow ultrafiltration of macromolecules: comparison between predicted and experimental results. Desalination 204, 328–334 (2007a)Vincent Vela, M.C., Álvarez, Blanco S., Lora, García J., Gozálvez Zafrilla, J.M., Bergantiños, Rodríguez E.: Utilization of a shear induced diffusion model to predict permeate flux in the crossflow ultrafiltration of macromolecules. 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Membrane fouling in whey processing and subsequent cleaning with ultrasounds for a more sustainable process

[EN] Cost reduction and minimization of environmental impacts, based on by-product recovery, is the objective of applying the ultrafiltration technology for the treatment of cheese whey. In this work, ultrafiltration process was studied in an integrated way (filtration and membrane cleaning), focusing especially on the membrane cleaning. Membrane cleaning experiments were carried out with and without ultrasounds to evaluate the effect of ultrasounds on the membrane cleaning efficiency and, as a result, to reduce the consumption of chemicals. Tests were performed with two ultrafiltration polymeric membranes with molecular weight cut-offs of 30,000 Da (UH030) and 5000 Da (UP005). Fouling experiments were carried out with Renylat whey protein concentrate solutions and CaCl2 addition at a transmembrane pressure of 2 bar and cross flow velocity of 2 m/s during 2 h. Results showed that the presence of calcium increased the membrane fouling of both membranes. For UH030 membrane the reversible fouling prevailed over the irreversible fouling, meanwhile for UP005 membrane the irreversible fouling was the predominant one. Cleaning efficiency results demonstrated that ultrasounds application is an effective technique to clean ultrafiltration membranes after being fouled with whey protein concentrate solutions and may have a paramount importance on the overall process efficiency.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CTM 2010-20.186).Luján Facundo, MJ.; Mendoza Roca, JA.; Cuartas Uribe, BE.; Alvarez Blanco, S. (2017). Membrane fouling in whey processing and subsequent cleaning with ultrasounds for a more sustainable process. Journal of Cleaner Production. 143:804-813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.043S80481314

Study of membrane cleaning with and without ultrasounds application after fouling with three model dairy solutions

The aim of this study was to investigate the behavior of two ultrafiltration (UF) membranes after their fouling with different fouling solutions and cleaning with a surfactant, including the application of ultrasounds (US). Thus,two UF membranes (UH030 and UP005) were fouled with three different whey model solutions that consisted of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with a concentration of 1% (w/w), BSA (1%, w/w) plus CaCl2 with a concentration of 0.17% (w/w) and whey solution (Renylat 45) with a concentration of 2.22% (w/w). Chemical cleaning was carried out with P3 Ultrasil 115 solution at temperatures between 25 ◦C and 45 ◦C and concentrations in the range between 0.5% (v/v) and 0.9% (v/v). US were applied in some ofthe tests at a frequency of 20 kHz and nominal power of 300W. The results demonstrated that US cleaning was effective to enhance the permeability recovery, although this enhancement was only up to 9%. Concerning fouling, results from resistances calculations showed that for UH030 membrane prevails the reversible fouling whereas for UP005 membrane predominate irreversible foulingThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CTM 2010-20.186).Luján Facundo, MJ.; Mendoza Roca, JA.; Cuartas Uribe, BE.; Alvarez Blanco, S. (2016). Study of membrane cleaning with and without ultrasounds application after fouling with three model dairy solutions. Food and Bioproducts Processing. 100:36-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2016.06.011S364610

Study of ultrasonically enhanced chemical cleaning of SWRO membranes at pilot plant scale

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Desalination and water treatment on 2017, available online: http://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2017.21312[EN] Fouling accumulated on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes during operation is one of the main problems affecting seawater desalination processes. This phenomenon causes a deterioration of the permselective properties of the membranes, which turns into a loss of performance of the process and costs increase. Conventionally, recovery of the process performance in desalination plants is carried out periodically by means of physical and chemical cleaning stages. However, conventional cleaning does not manage to recover completely the membrane properties and eventually can damage the membrane materials. New membrane cleaning techniques have been developed in order to improve this recovery. Ultrasound (US) radiation, which has shown to be an interesting technique during filtration since it avoids fouling deposition and allows to lengthen the period between cleaning stages, is proposed as an alternative technique to remove membrane fouling. This work investigates the effect of the combination of chemical cleaning methods and US application to clean a RO membrane from a desalination plant. The experiments performed were able to determine the best operating conditions to carry out the US cleaning protocol. Sodium hydroxide 2% w/v and sodium dodecyl sulphate 4% w/v solutions at 25 degrees C were used, as they showed the highest recovery of the membrane properties in the chemical cleaning tests. Results showed that cleaning by US had a positive effect on the membrane selectivity (increase by 15.2%), and a low significant effect on its permeability. The utilization of the chemical cleaning combined with US improved the permeate flux considerably, without modifying salt rejection index in a significant way. Among the two cleaning solutions tested, the best results in terms of permeability and selectivity of the cleaned membrane, were those obtained by the US procedure using NaOH 2% w/v cleaning solution at 25 degrees C.The authors wish to thank Abengoa Water, S.L. for the financial support given to this research, through the project "Cleaning and re-use of reverse osmosis membranes in desalination plants", which belongs to the CENIT-Tecoagua research project, funded as well by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.García-Fayos, B.; Arnal Arnal, JM.; Gimenez Anton, AC.; Alvarez Blanco, S.; Sancho, M. (2017). Study of ultrasonically enhanced chemical cleaning of SWRO membranes at pilot plant scale. Desalination and Water Treatment. 88:1-7. doi:10.5004/dwt.2017.20840S178

Ultrafiltration of residual fermentation brines from the production of table olives at different operating conditions

[EN] The membrane process of ultrafiltration (UF) has been investigated as a pretreatment previous to the further recovery and concentration of phenolic compounds from residual table olives fermentation brines. Two UF membranes were tested: a permanently hydrophilic polyethersulfone (PES) membrane with a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 30 kDa and a PES membrane with a MWCO of 5 kDa. Transmembrane pressure and crossflow velocity were varied from 1 to 3 bar and from 2.2 to 3.7 m s(-1), respectively. The best membrane in terms of permeate flux and selectivity was that with MWCO of 5 kDa and the best operating conditions were transmembrane pressure of 3 bar and crossflow velocity of 2.2 m s(-1). In these conditions permeate flux was 21.6 L h(-1).m(-2), while the rejection of COD and phenolic compounds were 50.0% and 21.9%, respectively and the removal of colour and turbidity was almost complete. In addition, an alkaline cleaning protocol was proposed, which was effective to restore the initial permeability of the selected membrane. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors of this work wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of CDTI (Centre for Industrial Technological Development) depending on the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (INNPRONTA program, ITP-20111020).Carbonell Alcaina, C.; Alvarez Blanco, S.; Bes-Piá, M.; Mendoza Roca, JA.; Pastor Alcañiz, L. (2018). Ultrafiltration of residual fermentation brines from the production of table olives at different operating conditions. Journal of Cleaner Production. 189:662-672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.04.127S66267218

Analysis and optimization of the influence of operating conditions in the ultrafiltration of macromolecules using a response surface methodological approach

[EN] In this work, the ultrafiltration of macromolecules was analysed using a response surface methodological approach. The behaviour of two different inorganic membranes was investigated. The membranes selected were a Carbosep M2 membrane (Orelis, France) with a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 15 kDa and a Tami MSKT membrane (Tami Industries, France) with a MWCO of 5 kDa. The solute employed was polyethylene glycol of 35 kDa molecular weight. The influence of transmembrane pressure (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 MPa), crossflow velocity (1, 2 and 3 m/s) and feed concentration (5, 10 and 15 g/L) on permeate flux and permeate flux decline was investigated. Analysis of variance was proved to be a useful tool to determine the effect of operating variables on both parameters. The method used demonstrated the presence of coupled effects between factors as well as squared effects that are relevant to the ultrafiltration process. The surface contours obtained from fitted models were used for the optimization of the operating conditions. The goal was to simultaneously maximize the average permeate flux and minimize the flux decline. The optimal operating conditions for the Carbosep M2 membrane were a transmembrane pressure of 0.38 MPa and a crossflow velocity of 3 m/s. The optimal operating conditions for the Tami MSKT membrane could not be determined by means of multiple response optimization due to the low accuracy of the regression model obtained for the cumulative permeate flux decline (SFD) response variable. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The authors of this work wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (MCYT) through the project no. CTQ2005-03398.Martí Calatayud, MC.; Vincent Vela, MC.; Alvarez Blanco, S.; Lora-García, J.; Bergantinos Rodríguez, E. (2010). Analysis and optimization of the influence of operating conditions in the ultrafiltration of macromolecules using a response surface methodological approach. Chemical Engineering Journal. 156(2):337-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2009.10.031S337346156

Effect of the operating conditions on a nanofiltration process to separate low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds from the sugars present in olive mill wastewaters

[EN] The efficiency of nanofiltration to purify the tyrosol present in the olive mill wastewaters (OMWWs) has been studied. The similar molecular weight of tyrosol and the sucrose existing in this kind of by-products restricts the discrimination between both molecules through a membrane process, but the interest of phenolic compounds to be applied in cosmetics and pharmacology greatly motivates its recovery at the highest purity possible. Thus, two different simulated OMWWs composed of tyrosol and mixtures of tyrosol and sucrose, respectively, were nanofiltered using the NF270 membrane. Three transmembrane pressures (TMPs) and three cross-flow velocities were tested. The optimum results were obtained at 0.5 m.s(-1) and 15 bar. The rejections of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) were above 78 %, whereas phenolic compounds were barely retained. This indicates that the sugar was accurately separated from tyrosol, which was recovered in the permeate stream at a high purity.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness through the project CTM201788645-R, and by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the PRE2018-085245 pre-doctoral grant.Sánchez-Arévalo, CM.; Jimeno-Jiménez, Á.; Carbonell Alcaina, C.; Vincent Vela, MC.; Alvarez Blanco, S. (2021). Effect of the operating conditions on a nanofiltration process to separate low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds from the sugars present in olive mill wastewaters. Process Safety and Environmental Protection. 148:428-436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2020.10.00242843614