New Membrane process synergies for the food industry
Lipnizki, Frank LU
(2010)
13th Aachener Membran Kolloquium 2010
p.617-620
- Abstract
- Over the last two decades the market for membrane technology in the food industry increased to a market volume of approx. € 50 million and is now the second largest industrial market for membranes after municipal water treatment in Germany. The key membrane technologies in the food industry are the pressure driven membrane processes; microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. Apart from membrane processes, conventional separation and concentration technologies such as evaporators and separators have also a very significant market share in the food industry. However, the potential of combining membranes processes with conventional processes by the means of synergies is still a relative unexplored area. The aim of... (More)
- Over the last two decades the market for membrane technology in the food industry increased to a market volume of approx. € 50 million and is now the second largest industrial market for membranes after municipal water treatment in Germany. The key membrane technologies in the food industry are the pressure driven membrane processes; microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. Apart from membrane processes, conventional separation and concentration technologies such as evaporators and separators have also a very significant market share in the food industry. However, the potential of combining membranes processes with conventional processes by the means of synergies is still a relative unexplored area. The aim of this lecture is to highlight the potential of process synergies in the food industry by introducing the concept followed by examples of successful applications of process synergies in the starch-based sweetener and yeast extract production.
Starch-based sweeteners are the most important starch derivatives produced by acid and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of the starch carbohydrates. These sweeteners are nutritive sweeteners, which are used as a low-cost replacement of sucrose extracted from sugar cane and beets. The two key groups of starch-based sweeteners are glucose/dextrose syrup and high fructose syrups. Related to the starch-based sweetener industry, the focus will be on mud removal after saccharification. In the conventional process rotary vacuum filters (RVFs) with diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) coating are used for removal of the so-called mud phase consisting of enzymes, proteins etc. after the saccharification step. In a newly developed process synergy a two-phase decanter combined with ultrafiltration spiral wound modules is used for demudding. The key advantage of this synergy process is that no kieselguhr as filter coating is required and thereby high disposal costs and sugar losses with the kieselguhr are avoided. This process synergy additionally achieves higher colour removal compared to the RVFs and thereby reduces the load on the subsequent ion-exchange columns and thus extends their running cycles.
Yeast extracts are produced by autolysis of the yeast cells releasing e.g. amino acids, vitamins and peptides. The use of yeast extracts as food flavour ingredient and nutrient in fermentation processes has increased in recent years. In the yeast extract production, the focus is on the concentration of yeast extract and the polishing of yeast extract before concentration. In the conventional process, a three-stage evaporation is used for the concentration of the yeast extracts. Alternatively, reverse osmosis can be combined with evaporation in a process synergy. Using reverse osmosis as pre-concentration step the solid content can be increased from 4.5 to 15% and the number of evaporation stages for the final concentration can be reduced from three to two. This approach reduces the overall investment and running costs. Furthermore, reverse osmosis can be used to reduce the COD/BOD in the evaporator condensate by approximately a factor 10 allowing that part of the condensate can be recycled. For some special applications of yeast extract, e.g. in fermentation, the yeast extract is further polished before evaporation. Conventionally, RVFs with kieselguhr as filter coating are used for this polishing step. Alternatively, ultrafiltration combined with diafiltration can be applied to replace these RVFs avoiding the use of filter coatings. An added benefit of ultrafiltration is the product quality is increases since all suspended solids, proteins and microbiology, i.e. dead cells, are removed. The polished yeast extract - UF permeate - can then be pre-concentrated with reverse osmosis and final concentration is achieved with evaporation.
In conclusion, this lecture demonstrates that synergy processes consisting of membrane and conventional processes can improve the production processes in the food industry and at the same time resulting in better products and therefore contribute to a sustainable growth of this industry.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/00157113-1403-47b0-8434-fb29ab526375
- author
- Lipnizki, Frank
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2010
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Membrane separation, Food technology, Yeast, Starch industry
- pages
- 4 pages
- conference name
- 13th Aachener Membran Kolloquium 2010
- conference location
- Aachen, Germany
- conference dates
- 2010-10-27 - 2010-10-28
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 00157113-1403-47b0-8434-fb29ab526375
- date added to LUP
- 2018-10-18 04:28:09
- date last changed
- 2023-04-18 17:40:48
@misc{00157113-1403-47b0-8434-fb29ab526375,
abstract = {{Over the last two decades the market for membrane technology in the food industry increased to a market volume of approx. € 50 million and is now the second largest industrial market for membranes after municipal water treatment in Germany. The key membrane technologies in the food industry are the pressure driven membrane processes; microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. Apart from membrane processes, conventional separation and concentration technologies such as evaporators and separators have also a very significant market share in the food industry. However, the potential of combining membranes processes with conventional processes by the means of synergies is still a relative unexplored area. The aim of this lecture is to highlight the potential of process synergies in the food industry by introducing the concept followed by examples of successful applications of process synergies in the starch-based sweetener and yeast extract production. <br/>Starch-based sweeteners are the most important starch derivatives produced by acid and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of the starch carbohydrates. These sweeteners are nutritive sweeteners, which are used as a low-cost replacement of sucrose extracted from sugar cane and beets. The two key groups of starch-based sweeteners are glucose/dextrose syrup and high fructose syrups. Related to the starch-based sweetener industry, the focus will be on mud removal after saccharification. In the conventional process rotary vacuum filters (RVFs) with diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) coating are used for removal of the so-called mud phase consisting of enzymes, proteins etc. after the saccharification step. In a newly developed process synergy a two-phase decanter combined with ultrafiltration spiral wound modules is used for demudding. The key advantage of this synergy process is that no kieselguhr as filter coating is required and thereby high disposal costs and sugar losses with the kieselguhr are avoided. This process synergy additionally achieves higher colour removal compared to the RVFs and thereby reduces the load on the subsequent ion-exchange columns and thus extends their running cycles. <br/>Yeast extracts are produced by autolysis of the yeast cells releasing e.g. amino acids, vitamins and peptides. The use of yeast extracts as food flavour ingredient and nutrient in fermentation processes has increased in recent years. In the yeast extract production, the focus is on the concentration of yeast extract and the polishing of yeast extract before concentration. In the conventional process, a three-stage evaporation is used for the concentration of the yeast extracts. Alternatively, reverse osmosis can be combined with evaporation in a process synergy. Using reverse osmosis as pre-concentration step the solid content can be increased from 4.5 to 15% and the number of evaporation stages for the final concentration can be reduced from three to two. This approach reduces the overall investment and running costs. Furthermore, reverse osmosis can be used to reduce the COD/BOD in the evaporator condensate by approximately a factor 10 allowing that part of the condensate can be recycled. For some special applications of yeast extract, e.g. in fermentation, the yeast extract is further polished before evaporation. Conventionally, RVFs with kieselguhr as filter coating are used for this polishing step. Alternatively, ultrafiltration combined with diafiltration can be applied to replace these RVFs avoiding the use of filter coatings. An added benefit of ultrafiltration is the product quality is increases since all suspended solids, proteins and microbiology, i.e. dead cells, are removed. The polished yeast extract - UF permeate - can then be pre-concentrated with reverse osmosis and final concentration is achieved with evaporation. <br/>In conclusion, this lecture demonstrates that synergy processes consisting of membrane and conventional processes can improve the production processes in the food industry and at the same time resulting in better products and therefore contribute to a sustainable growth of this industry. <br/>}},
author = {{Lipnizki, Frank}},
keywords = {{Membrane separation; Food technology; Yeast; Starch industry}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{617--620}},
title = {{New Membrane process synergies for the food industry}},
year = {{2010}},
}