Ultrafiltration of Whole Milk With Hollow Fiber Membranes

Whole milk was concentrated using Romicon PM50 membranes. Rententate and permeate were analyzed for total solids, protein (TKN) and fat at five concentration levels. The effects of pressure, concentration, fiber length and several milk pretreatments on flux were examined. A 5X concentrate was prepared containing 37.2% solids, 13.3% protein and 17.8% fat. The highest initial and 4X fluxes were obtained using a pressure differential of 1.4 kg/cm2 ‐ 2.11/0.7 (20 psig ‐ 30/10). Flux declined slowly with concentration to 3X (20% loss) and decreased more rapidly thereafter. Higher fluid velocities were deemed responsible for 27% higher initial flux and 47% higher 4X flux when a shorter module was employed (63.5 versus 109.2 cm). Clarification, pasteurization and/or homogenization had little effect on flux at either level.