The membrane separation mechanism in protein concentration from the extract of waste press cake in biofuel manufacturing process of Jatropha seeds

Protein concentration process using filter membrane has a significant advantage on energy saving compared to the traditional drying processes. However, fouling on large membrane area and frequent membrane cleaning will increase the energy consumption and operation cost for the protein concentration process with filter membrane. In this study, the membrane filtration for protein concentration will be conducted and compared with the recent protein concentration technology. The analysis of operating factors for protein concentration process using filter membrane was discussed. The separation mechanism of membrane filtration was developed according to the size difference between the pore of membrane and the particle of filter material. The Darcy’s Law was applied to discuss the interaction on flux, TMP (transmembrane pressure) and resistance in this study. The effect of membrane pore size, pH value and TMP on the steady-state flux (J_st) and protein rejection (R) were studied. It is observed that the J_st increases with decreasing membrane pore size, the J_st increases with increasing TMP, and R increased with decreasing solution pH value. Compare to other variables, the pH value is the most significant variable for separation between protein and water.