Sr. Bellara et al., FRACTIONATION OF BSA AND LYSOZYME USING GAS-SPARGED ULTRAFILTRATION IN HOLLOW-FIBER MEMBRANE MODULES, Biotechnology progress, 13(6), 1997, pp. 869-872
Ultrafiltration experiments were performed on mixtures of BSA and lyso
zyme with the aim of fractionating the two proteins. Pilot-plant scale
polysulphone hollow fiber membrane modules with molecular weight cuto
ffs of 150 000 and 200 000 were used. The membrane process was enhance
d via the injection of gas slugs into the hollow fiber membrane module
s. The gas slugs served to disrupt concentration polarization near the
membrane surface with the subsequent aim of improving membrane select
ivity. It was found that hollow fiber membranes were effective at frac
tionating BSA and lysozyme, with the membrane selectivity being greate
r than 20 across a range of operating conditions. The introduction of
gas slugs further improved membrane selectivity by a factor of 3-5. Th
e sieving mechanism of the membrane and electrostatic interactions bet
ween proteins and the membrane were discussed and used to explain expe
rimental observations.