Abstract
The cross-flow filtration characteristics of bacterial cells (S. bovis) obtained from the lactic acid fermentation broth of fresh cassava roots were investigated in terms of specific cake resistance. The amount of particles accumulated on the membrane surface was evaluated using cake filtration model. The effects of the operating conditions (transmembrane pressure, cross-flow velocity and cell concentration) on permeate flux, cake resistance and specific cake resistance were studied. The cake properties in cross-flow filtration were then compared to those in the dead-end filtration. The specific cake resistance in the cross-flow filtration shows higher value than in the dead-end filtration for almost the same cake compressibilities of about 1.0. The specific cake resistance increases with increasing cross-flow velocity and decreases with increasing cell concentration until a concentration at which the specific cake resistance hardly changes. The increasing ratio of the specific cake resistance in the cross-flow filtration over the dead-end filtration is found to be independent of the transmembrane pressure and cell concentration.