Abstract
The performance of microfiltration ceramic membranes was investigated in terms of protein fractionation efficacy and permeate flux when treating skimmed (0.3% fat) buttermilk. Tests were performed with a 0.1 μm alumina membrane at a transmembrane pressure of 0.2 MPa and a crossflow velocity of 6.3 m s−1. Modelling of the flux was performed using the resistance-in-series model (RIS), combining fouling resistances due to concentration polarisation, adsorption and cake formation. The RIS model was appropriate to describe the main fouling mechanisms with high fitting accuracy (R2 > 0.93). The predominant fouling mechanism was cake layer formation followed by adsorption. The polynomial correction of the exponential growth of mass deposited on the membrane surface was proposed. The function with polynomial correction accurately fit experimental data (R2 = 0.99). Moreover, the thermal processing history of buttermilk resulted in selective transmission of α-LA. However, further studies are required to enhance the efficiency of buttermilk fractionation.
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