CONCENTRATION OF BOVINE SERUM-ALBUMIN AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS BY MEMBRANE DISTILLATION

The use of membrane distillation in the concentration of protein solut ions is proposed. Semidilute BSA solutions (concentrations ranging bet ween 0.40 and 1.00%), at pH 7.4 were employed. Transmembrane volume fl uxes and evolution of the BSA concentration were measured at different conditions. Temperatures ranged between 20 and 38 degrees C. The filt ration cell was operated at laminar regime with tangential velocities of 5.9 and 8.9 cm.s(-1). Special attention was devoted to analysis of the temperature polarization and fouling effects. The results obtained show that fouling effects are practically absent in membrane distilla tion operations with BSA solutions, at least for concentrations up to 1.00% w/w and in the range of crossflow velocities employed. This may be due to the fact that the transmembrane fluxes are below the value o f the critical flux for fouling.