In Silico Evaluation of Ultrafiltration and Nanofiltration Membrane Cascades for Continuous Fractionation of Protein Hydrolysate from Tuna Processing Byproduct

Abstract

The present work proposes the design of cascades that integrate ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes to separate the different protein fractions from the protein hydrolysate obtained after hydrolysis of tuna byproducts. Experimental data (permeate flux and rejection of protein fractions under different applied pressures) previously obtained and published by this research group were fitted to empirical models, which were the basis for a process simulation model. High recovery rates (0.9) in the UF stages implied high process yields by reduced desired fraction losses, while similar recovery rates in the NF stages were required for high product purity. However, the applied pressures were not so influential over the performance of the system. Optimization problems were solved to identify the optimal design and operation conditions to maximize the product purity or the process yield. Maximal purity of the preferred 1−4 kDa fraction (49.3% from 19.0% in feed stream) obtained by the configuration with 3 UF stages and another 3 NF stages implied 2 and 5 bar pressures applied in the UF and NF stages, respectively, while 0.9 was the optimal recovery rate value for all the stages. These maximal purity conditions resulted in 62.6% process yield, defined as the percentage of the 1−4 kDa fraction in the feed stream recovered in the product stream. In addition, multiobjective optimization of the process was also carried out to obtain the Pareto graphs that represent the counterbalance between maximal yields and purities.

Enzymatic fish protein hydrolysates in finfish aquaculture: a review

“…Low molecular weight peptides are more easily absorbed and assimilated by the gastrointestinal tract of animals than those with higher molecular weight (Mart ınez-Alvarez et al 2015; Zamora-Sillero et al 2018). Several studies recommend gel filtration (GF), nanofiltration (NF) and ultrafiltration (UF) to further refine FPH and to increase efficiency of by-products to make more efficient bioactive peptide dietary ingredients for human and animal consumption (Bourseau et al 2009;Picot et al 2010;Abejon et al 2016). Pressure-driven membrane separation is sometimes used to separate peptides into different size groups (Bourseau et al 2009).…”

“…2010; Abejon et al . 2016). Pressure‐driven membrane separation is sometimes used to separate peptides into different size groups (Bourseau et al .…”

Optimal design of industrial scale continuous process for fractionation by membrane technologies of protein hydrolysate derived from fish wastes

“…Advanced membrane configurations, such as membrane cascades, have been successfully applied to the integration of several separation stages in order to overcome the constraints of limited membrane selectivity and improve the effectiveness of the separation processes [24,25]. Recent efforts have been focused on the in-silico evaluation of ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membrane cascades for fish protein hydrolysate [26].…”

Design of membrane cascades according to the method of McCabe-Thiele: An organic solvent nanofiltration case study for olefin hydroformylation in toluene

“…Besides these improvements, a better use of the commercial membranes appears as a requirement. Consequently, cascades are of growing interest to improve OSN performances thanks to commercial membranes [33,[41][42][43][44].…”

“…For instance Adi et al [23] focused on the separation of a mixture of hydrocarbons and Abejón et al [42] optimized a membrane cascade for the purification of a solute from its impurity in methanol. Other authors highlighted laboratory scale experiments and focused on the feasibility of membrane cascades for better OSN performances [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49].…”