Abstract
Ultrafiltration with plate & frame membrane system is used for the recovery of 2–keto–L–gulonate (2KLG), animportant intermediate of vitamin C in Northeast General Pharmaceutical Factory, China. Ultrafiltration is a newprocess to remove proteins and bacterial debris in the fermentation broth and the membrane process shows advan-tages over other processes, e.g. precipitation or flocculation. Results of ultrafiltration with two different membranemodules, Alfa Laval M38 and M39 are presented and compared with respect to the characteristics of the two mod-ules. This work shows that fermentation broth without pre-treatment (e.g. centrifugation)can be filtered with the lat-est module M39. The membrane process has been operating in the production line for more than 10 years inNortheast General Pharmaceutical Factory, and the operational experience is summarized in the paper.
