Cross flow electro-ultrafiltration for colloidal solution of protein.

One of the major bottlenecks in ultrafiltration of colloidal solutions of such materials as protein is gel layer formation, which exhibits very large filtration resistance. Cross-flow electro-ultrafiltration is very effective in increasing the filtration flux because the thickness of the gel layer formed on the membrane is decreased by electrophoresis and the shear force caused near the membrane. Moreover, the filtration resistances of the gel layer and the membrane are apparently decreased by electroosmosis. In this paper, the performance and the design equation of a cross-flow electro-ultrafilter are reported for a colloidal solution of gelatin.