The proposed procedure to produce low polluting effluent consists of a combination of coagulation-flocculation and membrane separation process. The main role of the coagulation-flocculation process is the simultaneous enhancement of removal efficiency and increase the permeate flux by minimizing the membrane fouling. Membrane fouling has a significant impact on the cost, design, and operation o...

The effect of backpulsing, into the permeate space of a 2.5 inch spiral wrap membrane, on the prevention of fouling (flux enhancement) was investigated experimentally. These experiments were performed using a 500 mg∙l-1 dextrin solution and a 100 000 MCWO polypropylene membrane, with a feed pressure of 100 kPa and a cross-flow rate of 1 000 l∙h-1. Experimental results showed that a backpulse wi...

β-Galactosidase from Streptococcus thermophilus was overexpressed in a food-grade organism, Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1. Laboratory cultivations yielded 11,000 U of β-galactosidase activity per liter of culture corresponding to approximately 170 mg of enzyme. Crude cell-free enzyme extracts obtained by cell disruption and subsequent removal of cell debris showed high stability and were used f...

This study evaluates the performance of a polymeric microfiltration membrane, as well as its combination with a coconut granular activated carbon (GAC) pretreatment, in a gravitational filtration module, to improve the quality of water destined to human consumption. The proposed membrane and adsorbent were thoroughly characterized using instrumental techniques, such as contact angle, Brunauer-E...

Discarded tobacco leaf protein hydrolysate (DTLPH) was prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis using papain and then separated using ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with molecular mass cut-off (MMCO) of 10, 5, 3 and 1 kDa. Four permeate fractions including 10-K, 5-K, 3-K and 1-K (the permeate fractions from 10, 5, 3 and 1 kDa) hydrolysate fractions were obtained. The 5-K hydrolysate fraction had high o...

Most drugs permeate biological membranes via passive diffusion and it is generally assumed that the main barrier is the lipophilic structure of the membrane. However, we have observed that the unstirred water layer adjacent to the membrane surface can in some cases be a barrier just as effective as the lipophilic membrane itself. Hydrophilic cyclodextrins can enhance drug delivery through biolo...

The evaluation of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for pretreatment of reverse osmosis (RO) in order to reuse and reclamation of industrial town wastewater treatment plant was investigated in this study. Performance of MBR effluent through water quality in term of parameters such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN) and total coliform (TC) were measured....