Microfiltration with periodic gas backwashing as an alternative technique for increasing permeate flux

In this paper, the influence of operating parameters (transmembrane pressure, temperature, the flow rate of retentate) on the cross - flow microfiltration of synthetic fruit juice and periodic backwashing with air was examined. In the experiments, the Kerasep W5 ceramic membrane with a separation limit of 0.2 μm was used. The results of experiments in which different transmembrane pressures were used showed that stationary fluxes, at stationary conditions, after 60 minutes, have similar values. So, it can be concluded that the value of the driving force is irrelevant at steady state conditions. However, until the steady state conditions are established, a positive effect of the increase in the driving force is opposed to the negative effect of the increased polarization resistance, as a result of the driving force increase. Thus, the optimal transmembrane pressure was determined amounting to 2 bars. The optimum temperature of the process of clearing the fruit juices by microfiltration is reported as 55°C. Higher temperatures are not used due to a degrading effect on the chemical composition of the juice and a long microfiltration process. With an increase in the temperature of retentate from 22°C to 55°C, the permeate flux increased up to 60%. Increasing the flow rate of retentate reduces the thickness of the formed layer on the surface of the membrane. Due to limitations of the experimental setup and the large surface area of the membrane, the specific velocity of the retentate was low, so that the effects of cross-flow filtration were absent. The use of cross-flow filtration is one of the main requirements for increasing permeate flux, but in the present case it was in overall insufficient, so we have applied periodic air backwashing for improving fruit juice flux during membrane clarification. With this technique, the deposited layer on the membrane is lifted and the permeate flux is maintained at high levels preventing establishment of the steady state in the low flux zone. The time spent for the periodic backwashing was low as compared to the benefits of the increase in the collected permeate quantity. In all experiments with periodic backwashing with air, the collected permeate quantity is higher for up to 72.5 % as compared to experiments without backwashing. By increasing the backwashing duration, the flux increase is up to 5 %, which can be significant for microfiltration at industrial scale. Therefore, this technique is certainly recommended for microfiltration in the production of fruit juices