CONCENTRATION OF PROTEINACEOUS SOLUTIONS WITH SUPERABSORBENT HYDROGELS

A process is investigated quantitatively for concentrating dilute aque ous bovine serum albumin solutions with superabsorbent crosslinked hyd rogels. In the process, the gel swells by absorbing water only while m acromolecules are excluded, thus producing a concentrated retentate. T he concentration of the retentate is about 5.8 times larger than that of the feed for a dosage of dry gels of 0.63% by weight. The dynamic b ehavior of the concentration process is described by using the equatio n of motion of the gel network on the basis of the kinetics of the swe lling of the gel. The pore size of the hydrogen controlling the sievin g property is estimated from measurements of the permeation rate of wa ter through the compressed, packed bed of the swelling gels, known as the compression-permeability test. It is demonstrated that slight stir ring during the concentration process is accompanied by a rapid remova l of the BSA filter cake on the gel surface, leading to efficient conc entration.