Microfiltration for casein and serum protein separation

Microfiltration (MF) is typically operated at a relatively lower pressure and is mainly applied for larger particle separation and fractionation. In the dairy industry, cross‐flow MF is mainly used to remove bacteria and spores from milk or to polish processing water. This chapter discusses the application of cross‐flow MF to skim milk casein and serum protein separation using ceramic membrane systems (uniform transmembrane pressure TMP process (UTP), gradient porosity (GP) and Isoflux process), and polymeric membrane systems. The casein and serum protein separation performance can be improved generally by operating at a low permeate flux and high shear stress. To achieve this goal, one can select membranes with a specific design and/or operate the system at optimized conditions. Finally, the chapter explains an economic analysis of a ceramic membrane system and a polymeric membrane system for casein and serum protein separation in terms of capital investment and operation cost.