Abstract
Separation of protein mixtures and amino acid mixtures by electrically enhanced ultrafiltration (EUF) and microfiltration (EMF) was studied. EUF and EMF are new membrane separation processes combined with electrophoresis.
Membranes used without an electric field had no rejection ability of the solutes. When the electric field was applied, the permeate was concentrated or diluted according to the charge of the solute and the electric potential gradient. The effects of the operating conditions, such as applied pressure, feed flow rate and applied electric field strength, on rejection were experimentally studied in single-solute and mixed-solute solutions.
The experimental results showed that EUF and EMF were effective for the separation of charged solutes such as amino acids and proteins in both single-solute and mixed-solute solations.
