Increasing flux by back-pulsing in the microfiltration of milk

• Milk with extended shelf-life can be produced by microfiltration (MF) and pasteurisation in a cascade arrangement. In a previous study, we have shown that back-pulsing can be used to reduce the energy requirement in the MF of defatted milk. In this study, the influence of back-pulsing on MF was investigated at higher milk fluxes than in a prior study. The MF experiments were performed in constant-flux mode. The operational time until a certain pressure build-up was used as a measure of the performance. Fluxes between 350 and 500 L m−2 h−1 were investigated, with and without back-pulsing (frequencies ranging from 6 to 0.2 min−1). It was shown that the fouling rate was strongly dependent on the permeate flux; higher flux leading to a higher fouling rate. Improved MF performance was found using back-pulsing at a flux of 350 L m−2 h−1, while at higher fluxes, back-pulsing impaired the performance.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Kemiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Chemical Engineering (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)