| Abstract: | Nanofiltration of a model inulin-sucrose solution has been studied using a pilot cross-flow unit. The aim of this work was to evaluate two operation modes: total recycle nanofiltration and diafiltration. Experiments were performed at transmembrane pressures from 0.4 to 1.45 MPa and two inlet flow rates. It was found that inulin purification is feasible within the range of the process conditions set. Furthermore, the sucrose retention coefficient is highly affected by the transmembrane pressure but the inlet flow rate does not affect this parameter significantly. Experimental results were simulated by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and a good agreement was observed between the predicted and the experimental values. |
