Investigation of nanofiltration as a purification step for lactic acid production processes based on conventional and bipolar electrodialysis operations

Nanofiltration was investigated for usability in a specific lactic acid production process based on conventional and bipolar electrodialysis operations. Industrial fluids, corresponding to two potential integration levels and coming from an existing installation, were investigated. The commercially available DK nanofiltration membrane was used and performances in terms of lactate/lactic acid recovery rate and purification efficiency are reported. Nanofiltration was able to efficiently remove magnesium and calcium ions from a sodium lactate fermentation broth before its concentration and conversion by electrodialysis (first potential integration level). Maximum impurities rejections and lactate recovery were obtained at maximum transmembrane pressures. Mg2+ and Ca2+ rejections were 64±7 and 72±7%, respectively and lactate recovery rate reached 25±2 molm−2 h−1 for P = 20 bar. Sulfate and phosphate ions were also partially removed from the broth (40% rejection). At the invert, chloride ions were negatively retained by the membrane and were consequently more concentrated in the permeate. Nanofiltration also led to a nearly total decolouration of the fermentation broth. On the other hand, sulfate and phosphate rejections obtained from the filtration of a converted broth containing the lactic acid under its neutral form (second potential integration level) were also satisfactory, i.e. 47±5 and 51±5%, respectively. High recovery rates were observed in that case, i.e. 48±2 molm−2 h−1 at 20 bar. It indicated that NF could also be used as final purification step in the process

Introduction of nanofiltration in a production process of fermented organic acids

Nanofiltration in a production process of fermented organic acid

Nanofiltratio of glucose and sodium lactate solutions Variations of retention between single- and mixed-solute solutions

The aim of this work was to investigate NF as a purificatio step, i.e. sugar removal, in the production process of lactic acid from sodium lactate fermentation broth. Experiments were carried out with the Desal 5 DK membrane and solutions of increasing complexity, i.e. single-solute solutions of sodium lactate and glucose and mixed-solute solutions containing both solutes. Concentrations close to those of a fermentation broth were chosen. Experimental results were used to get the variations of the intrinsic retention versus the permeation flu in order to achieve comparisons without the interference of concentration polarization. Quite distinct retentions were obtained for glucose and sodium lactate in single-solute solutions so that the purificatio was expected to be feasible. However, it is pointed out that glucose retention is significantl lower in mixed-solute solutions, i.e. when sodium lactate is present. This decrease is such that the retentions of both solutes become comparable so that any purificatio is unachievable. Experiments were also performed with a salt of a different nature (mineral salt, NaCl). Again, it was found that the presence of NaCl tends to decrease glucose retention. Moreover, the phenomenon is shown to be related to the salt concentration in both cases, i.e. with sodium lactate and NaCl. Some possible explanations of this effect are provided in this paper. Further investigations are still in progress to improve the knowledge of the mechanisms involved

Conformational changes influence clogging behavior of micrometer-sized microgels in idealized multiple constrictions

Clogging of porous media by soft particles has become a subject of extensive research in the last years and the understanding of the clogging mechanisms is of great importance for process optimization. The rise in the utilization of microfluidic devices brought the possibility to simulate membrane filtration and perform in situ observations of the pore clogging mechanisms with the aid of high speed cameras. In this work, we use microfluidic devices composed by an array of parallel channels to observe the clogging behavior of micrometer sized microgels. It is important to note that the microgels are larger than the pores/constrictions. We quantify the clog propensity in relation to the clogging position and particle size and find that the majority of the microgels clog at the first constriction independently of particle size and constriction entrance angle. We also quantify the variations in shape and volume (2D projection) of the microgels in relation to particle size and constriction entrance angle. We find that the degree of deformation increases with particle size and is dependent of constriction entrance angle, whereas, changes in volume do not depend on entrance angle

Microfluidic model systems used to emulate processes occurring during soft particle filtration

Cake layer formation in membrane processes is an inevitable phenomenon. For hard particles, especially cake porosity and thickness determine the membrane flux, but when the particles forming the cake are soft, the variables one has to take into account in the prediction of cake behavior increase considerably. In this work we investigate the behavior of soft polyacrylamide microgels in microfluidic model membranes through optical microscopy for in situ observation both under regular flow and under enhanced gravity conditions. Particles larger than the pore are able to pass through deformation and deswelling. We find that membrane clogging time and cake formation is not dependent on the applied pressure but rather on particle and membrane pore properties. Furthermore, we found that particle deposits subjected to low pressures and low g forces deform in a totally reversible fashion. Particle deposits subjected to higher pressures only deform reversibly if they can re-swell due to capillary forces, otherwise irreversible compression is observed. For membrane processes this implies that when using deformable particles, the pore size is not a good indicator for membrane performance, and cake formation can have much more severe consequences compared to hard particles due to the sometimes-irreversible nature of soft particle compression

A General Approach for Predicting the Filtration of Soft and Permeable Colloids: The Milk Example

Membrane filtration operations (ultra-, microfiltration) are now extensively used for concentrating or separating an ever-growing variety of colloidal dispersions. However, the phenomena that determine the efficiency of these operations are not yet fully understood. This is especially the case when dealing with colloids that are soft, deformable, and permeable. In this paper, we propose a methodology for building a model that is able to predict the performance (flux, concentration profiles) of the filtration of such objects in relation with the operating conditions. This is done by focusing on the case of milk filtration, all experiments being performed with dispersions of milk casein micelles, which are sort of ″natural″ colloidal microgels. Using this example, we develop the general idea that a filtration model can always be built for a given colloidal dispersion as long as this dispersion has been characterized in terms of osmotic pressure Π and hydraulic permeability k. For soft and permeable colloids, the major issue is that the permeability k cannot be assessed in a trivial way like in the case for hard-sphere colloids. To get around this difficulty, we follow two distinct approaches to actually measure k: a direct approach, involving osmotic stress experiments, and a reverse-calculation approach, that consists of estimating k through well-controlled filtration experiments. The resulting filtration model is then validated against experimental measurements obtained from combined milk filtration/SAXS experiments. We also give precise examples of how the model can be used, as well as a brief discussion on the possible universality of the approach presented here

Suivi in‐situ de la dégradation enzymatique de films modèles d'hémicellulose par QCM‐D

Suivi in‐situ de la dégradation enzymatique de films modèles d'hémicellulose par QCM‐D. Séminaire CEPIA BiLi ' Bioraffinerie des lignocelluloses

Projet de Groupement de Recherche INRA-CNRS 2018-2021 : Organisation et dynamique aux échelles intermédiaires

Projet de Groupement de Recherche INRA-CNRS 2018-2021 : Organisation et dynamique aux échelles intermédiaires. Métaséminaire CEPIA 201

Suivi in‐situ de la dégradation enzymatique de films modèles d'hémicellulose par QCM‐D

Suivi in‐situ de la dégradation enzymatique de films modèles d'hémicellulose par QCM‐D. Séminaire CEPIA BiLi ' Bioraffinerie des lignocelluloses

Projet de Groupement de Recherche INRA-CNRS 2018-2021 : Organisation et dynamique aux échelles intermédiaires

Projet de Groupement de Recherche INRA-CNRS 2018-2021 : Organisation et dynamique aux échelles intermédiaires. Métaséminaire CEPIA 201