• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.6-9
• /
• 2002

In this work we have investigated the feasibility of virus clearance by flocculation and tangential flow microfiltration. Chinese hamster ovary cell feed streams were spiked with minute virus of mice and then flocculated using cationic polyelectrolytes prior to tangential flow microfiltration. Our results indicate that flocculation prior to microfiltration leads to more than 100 fold clearance of minute virus of mice particles in the permeate. Today, validation of virus clearance is a major concern in the manufacture of biopharmaceutical products. Frequently new unit operations are added simply to validate virus clearance thus increasing the manufacturing cost. The results obtained here suggest that virus clearance can be obtained during tangential flow microfiltration. Since tangential flow microfiltration is frequently used for bioreactor harvesting this could be a low cost method to validate virus clearance.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.115-121
• /
• 2018

Artificial neural network (ANN) simulation is used to predict the dynamic change of permeate flux during wheat starch industry wastewater microfiltration with and without static turbulence promoter. The experimental program spans range of a sedimentation times from 2 to 4 h, for feed flow rates 50 to 150 L/h, at transmembrane pressures covering the range of $1{\times}10^5$ to $3{\times}10^5Pa$. ANN predictions of the wastewater microfiltration are compared with experimental results obtained using two different set of microfiltration experiments, with and without static turbulence promoter. The effects of the training algorithm, neural network architectures on the ANN performance are discussed. For the most of the cases considered, the ANN proved to be an adequate interpolation tool, where an excellent prediction was obtained using automated Bayesian regularization as training algorithm. The optimal ANN architecture was determined as 4-10-1 with hyperbolic tangent sigmoid transfer function transfer function for hidden and output layers. The error distributions of data revealed that experimental results are in very good agreement with computed ones with only 2% data points had absolute relative error greater than 20% for the microfiltration without static turbulence promoter whereas for the microfiltration with static turbulence promoter it was 1%. The contribution of filtration time variable to flux values provided by ANNs was determined in an important level at the range of 52-66% due to increased membrane fouling by the time. In the case of microfiltration with static turbulence promoter, relative importance of transmembrane pressure and feed flow rate increased for about 30%.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.500-505
• /
• 2004

The present study was to investigate the purification of a fermentation broth by an electromicrofiltration membrane. Microfiltration runs with a crude and a centrifuged broth, with solution of particles recovered from centrifugation and with permeates from microfiltration experiments were thus compared. Microfiltration performances were governed by colloids and small particles that induced sharp initial flux declines. For these results, the evolution of the overall membrane resistance was increased by $80\%$ in comparison with the electromicrofiltration membrane. The main focus of this study was set on the enhancement of the filtrate flux by an electric field. This pressure electrofiltration leads to a drastic improvement of the filtration by $100\%$ and the filtration time was thereby reduced. Pressure electrofiltration serves as an inter­esting alternative to the cross-flow filtration and it effectively separates advantageous constitu­ents such as amino acids and biopolymers from a fermentation broth. They were equally main­tained during the microelectrofiltration, although they were significantly reduced by $45\%$ by the microfiltration without the application of an electric field. Accordingly, since the electrofiltration membrane was provided more permeability, this study experimentally demonstrates that the permeability inside a membrane can be controlled using an electric field.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.67-72
• /
• 1997

To evaluate the effectiveness of water treatment using nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration systems, tapwater contaminated by bacteria and nitrate nitrogen was filtered, and then the rates of removal for many kinds of contaminants were comp.ared and investigated. The rates of turbidity removal by these systems are around 80% all of them. However, nanofiltration system is the most effective as hardness removal is 80%, suspended solids 90%, total residual chlorine 90% and nitrate nitrogen 69%. Among nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and microfiltration systems, nanofiltration system is the most stable in flow rate of permeate. Comparing hollow and spiral type of ultrafiltration, microfiltration each, spiral type is more stable than hollow type owing to rinsing effect of brine. The values of pH in ultrafiltration and microfiltration systems are between 7, 0 and 7.5, and that of nanofiltration system is low to 6.2-7.0. The effectiveness of heterotrophic bacteria removal is the most excellent in the nanofiltration system.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2003

A pilot scale biofilter pretreatment-microfiltration system (BF-MF) was operated to investigate the effect of biofilter treatment in fouling reduction of microfiltration. Biofiltration was expected to reduce the membrane fouling by removal of turbidity and metal oxides. The hollow-fiber MF module with a nominal pore size of 0.1$\mu$m and a surface area of 8m$^2$ was submerged in a filtration tank and microfiltration was operated at a constant flux of 0.5 m/d. Biofiltration using polypropylene pellets was performed at a high filtration velocity of 320 m/d. Two experimental setups composed of MF and BF/MF, i.e., without and with biofilter pretreatment, were compared. Throughout the experimental period of 9 months, biofilter pretreatment was effective to reduce the membrane fouling, which was proved by the result of time variations of trans-membrane pressure and backwash conditions. The turbidity removal rate by biofiltration varied between 40% to 80% due to the periodic washing for biofilter contactor and raw water turbidity. In addition to turbidity, metals, especially Mn, Fe and Al were removed effectively with average removal rates of 89.2%, 67.8% and 64.9%, respectively. Further analysis of foulants on the used membranes revealed that turbidity and metal removal by biofiltration was the major effect of biofiltration pretreatment against microfiltration fouling.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.101-112
• /
• 2013

Integrated process with coagulation and microfiltration as an advanced water treatment has been expanded its application in recent years due to its superb removal of particles and natural organic matter. In usual, effectiveness of coagulation sometimes determines performance of the whole system. Several new polymeric coagulants introduced to water utilities for better efficiency were studied in this paper. Three polymeric coagulants (i.e., PACl, PACs, and PAHCs) along with alum were evaluated for removal of natural organic matter, especially for reduction of trihalomethane formation potential, for which regulation has become stringent. Turbidity removal was closely related to pH variation showing the reduced turbidity removal by PACs due to the decreases in the pH of supernants at high doses. The four coagulants showed different organic matter removal during coagulation and affected the removal in microfiltration. For instance, DOC concentration was not reduced by microfiltration when PAHCs were used however 10 % of DOC removal was observed by microfiltration with alum coagulation. Coagulation pretreatment also impacted the THM removals, i.e., approximately 30 % of THMs and 13 % of DOC was removed by microfiltration only, but 40 to 67 % of THMs and 30 % of DOC was removed by the integrated process. Strategies on selection of coagulants are needed depending on characteristics of target pollutants in raw waters.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.441-449
• /
• 2012

Effect of humic acid (HA) with periodic nitrogen back-flushing was investigated in hybrid process of alumina microfiltration and photocatalyst for drinking water treatment. It was compared and investigated with the previous results of microfiltration water back-flushing or ultrafiltration nitrogen back-flushing in viewpoints of membrane fouling resistance ($R_f$), permeate flux (J), and total permeate volume ($V_T$). As results, the trends of membrane fouling were different depending on nitrogen or water back-flushing, and depending on ultrafiltration or microfiltration made with the same material. Also, the nitrogen back-flushing using microfiltration was more effective membrane fouling inhibition than ultrafiltration, and the nitrogen back-flushing was more effective than water back-flushing using the same microfiltration membrane. Turbidity treatment efficiencies were almost constant independent of HA concentration, but HA treatment efficiency was the maximum at HA 10 mg/L. From this results, it was shown that the treated water HA quality increased as increasing HA concentration, but HA could be removed the most effectively by photocatalyst beads adsorption and photo-oxidation at HA 10 mg/L.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.151-157
• /
• 2002

This research was to demonstrate the Possibility of sewage reuse for industrial purpose with use of membrane system. A bench scale test with microfiltration and reverse osmosis showed that microfiltration in the sewage treatment was not able to remove the soluble salts but 70% suspended solids (SS), suggesting that the treated water could be used as direct cooling water. In addition, the reverse osmosis removed not only soluble salts but also 95% SS, proposing that reverse osmosis-treated water could be used as both indirect cooling water and rinsing water. For a 100 ton/day pilot plant, 20 and 12 elements of microfiltration and reverse osmosis were required, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.595-601
• /
• 2010

It is evident that Korea will continue its battle with water shortage and alternative program are being taken into action. One of the main actions is reusing 1,800 tons of effluent of 357 sewage treatment plant located nationwide. Therefore this study supplemented ozone oxidation methods that would increase the efficiency of organic oxidation and coagulation. Through this method, fouling will be controled sufficiently by preventing membrane process in the system for advanced sewage treatment. In this study, ozone-coagulation-microfiltration membrane were used. The final removal efficiency of the pretreated water from the result of the ozone-coagulation were 50% of CODcr, 38% of TP and 11% of TOC respectively. Water quality treatment has decreased about 80% for TP. Ozone-coagulation-microfiltration membrane maintains the high flux while decreasing the number of organic matter and the membrane fouling, and reducing the TP. As a result, in order to reuse the water from the sewage, the ozone-coagulation-microfiltration membrane type must be considered in order to achieve the best efficiency.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.596-602
• /
• 2006

The effect of high-temperature spinning and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) additive on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction measurement, and scanning electron microscopy, together with the corresponding microfiltration performances such as water flux, rejection rate, and elongational strength. Using high-temperature spinning, porous hollow fiber membranes with particulate morphology were prepared through PVDF crystallization. The particulate structure of the membranes was further modified by the addition of miscible PVP with PVDF. Due to these effects, the rejection rate and strength of the fibers were increased at the expense of reduced water flux and mean pore size, which indicates that high-temperature spinning and PVP addition are vary effective to control the morphology of PVDF hollow fiber membranes for microfiltration.