Abstract
Membrane separations are widely used in bioseparation processes. Bioseparation processes consist of the following four processes, that is, cell harvesting/removal of cell debris, concentration, purification and polishing. In these separation processes microfiltration (MF) is used in removal of cells or cell debris, ultrafiltration (UF) in concentration of biomaterials of high molecular weight and biomass, reverse osmosis (RO) including nanofiltration (NF) in concentration of organic acid, amino acid and saccharide, and electrodialysis (ED) in desalting.
Besides the conventional applications mentioned above, more sophisticated membranes, membrane modules and equipments are developed and utilized. In this report the following topics are reviewed ; 1) the rotating membranes and their filtration performances in the separation of cells or cell debris, 2) the hybrid membrane separation of cell debris combined with centrifuge, 3) application of adsorptive membranes for affinity separation and membrane chromatography, 4) pervaporation of aroma compounds and 5) membrane extraction.
