Membrane Filtration Systems
Industrial Applications
GEA Filtration is experienced in processing a
wide range of products on a commercial basis and bytesting products at the
plant site or in our pilot plant testing facility.
Industrial
Applications
Starch & Sweetener Industry
The starch and
sweetener industry has seen membrane filtration replace traditional separation
methods such as filter presses and rotary vacuum filters in a number of process
steps. The primary benefits are elimination of handling/disposal of
diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) and increase in product yields. These include:
- Clarification of corn syrups such as dextrose and fructose
- Concentration of starch wash water
- Dextrose enrichment
- De-pyrogenation of dextrose syrup
- Fractionation/concentration of steep water
Sugar Industry
Both the cane and beet sugar industries
have used age old methods such as liming and flocculation to clarify the raw
juice and remove impurities such as waxes, dextrans and gums before sending the
juice to the refining step for evaporation and crystallization.
Membrane
filtration can be used to clarify the raw juice off the primary clarifiers,
thereby eliminating many environmental problems and improving the quality and
yield of the juice.
Membranes can also de-colorize, fractionate and
concentrate various sugar solutions within the production process.
Chemical Industry and Process Waste Water Membrane filtration can play
an integral role in processing difficult wastewater streams to reduce BOD, COD,
and hydraulic loadings as well as producing a clean water source that can
potentially be re-used within the plant.
Typical environmental
applications are:
- Dairy and food plant waste streams
- Potato flume water
- Polishing of evaporator condensate
- Recovery and re-use of spent cleaning solutions
Many chemical processes also
utilize membrane filtration for:
- De-salting, diafiltration and purification of dyes, pigments and optical
brighteners
- Clean-up of rinse and washwater streams
- Concentration and de-watering of minerals such as kaolin clay, titanium
dioxide and calcium carbonate
Chemical Industry Applications
- Pigment Production/Recovery
- Industrial Gelatin
- Metals Recovery
- Pharmaceutical Intermediates
- Industrial Salts
- Caustic Clarification
- Paper Additives
- Process Water Reclamation
- Polymer Production
- Specialty Chemicals
- Kaolin Clay
- Titanium Dioxide
- Kraft Black Liquor
- Spent Sulphite Liquor
- Vanillin
- Paper/Textile Dyes
Waste Waster Applications
- Wheat Starch
- Tomato
- Dairy Plant
- Rendering Plant
- Lime Process
- Corn Starch
- Potato Starch Recovery
- Stick Water Recovery
- Egg Process Waste Stream
- Metals Recovery
- CIP Chemicals Reclaim
- Evaporator Condensate Recovery
- Oily Water Recovery
- Specialty Chemicals Recovery
- Syrup/Sweetener Recovery
- Pasta Starch Recovery
Cross-flow membrane filtration technology is quickly gaining global
acceptance as an important manufacturing step in many process industries
worldwide. The ability to produce very specific separations / purifications at
low or ambient temperatures often make membrane filtration a much more
cost-effective technology than more conventional methods such as rotary vacuum
filtration or filter presses.
Membrane filtration is a pressure driven
technology with pore sizes ranging from 100 molecular weight to 5 microns. The
technologies included in membrane filtration are: Reverse Osmosis RO,
Nanofiltration NF, Ultrafiltration UF, and Microfiltration MF.