Protein Bioseparation Using Ultrafiltration: Theory, Applications and New Developments

Ultrafiltration (UF) is a pressure-driven separation process in which membranes are used for a broad variety of applications, ranging from the processing of biological macromolecules to wastewater treatment. It has significant advantages over competing separation technologies. Food and biotechnological applications of UF account for nearly 40 percent of the current total usage. In the case of high value therapeutic protein and DNA products, the separation and purification costs can be as high as 80 percent of the total cost of production. Therefore, it makes economic sense to develop cost-effective and scaleable purification processes for such products. UF is used for protein concentration, protein desalting and protein fractionation (such as protein-protein separation). Concentration and desalting processes are technologically less demanding and have been widely used in the bioprocess industry for quite some time. Protein fractionation, on the other hand, is a challenging proposition and is definitely a more recent development. This text focuses primarily on protein fractionation.