Evaluation of the mechanism of membrane fouling in the clarification of date syrup by the ultrafiltration process

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

4 Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The usage of membrane technology can improve the quality of sugar syrup in the clarification of date juice. Also, reducing the consumption of clarifying chemical agents and saving more energy are among the advantages of this technology. This research was conducted in order to investigate the efficiency of the membrane process in the clarification of date syrup and to evaluate the mechanism of membrane clogging resulting from organic and inorganic substances in date liquid sugar. In this study, the effect of temperature, flow rate and hydrostatic pressure on the permeate flux in the ultrafiltration process was investigated, and the membrane fouling mechanism was evaluated in different operating conditions. In addition, fouling analysis was performed using Hermia models. The results showed that the main mechanism of fouling in the membrane process of sugar syrup clarification is the mechanism of cake layer formation.

Graphical Abstract

Evaluation of the mechanism of membrane fouling in the clarification of date syrup by the ultrafiltration process

Highlights

  • The crossflow ultrafiltration was developed to clarification of depectinized date juice.
  • Hermia's models were used to interpret the phenomenon of membrane fouling in the cross-flow filtration of date syrup.
  • Cake filtration mechanism seems to be the best model for membrane fouling in the clarifying date syrup because it can be revived after proper cleaning.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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