La description
The Alfa Laval ultrafiltration spiral membranes (UF) are a proven and popular choice for many processes in the food, beverage, dairy, biotech and pharmaceutical industries where they are used for product recovery as well as product purification, fractionation and concentration. This makes the ultrafiltration membranes one of our most versatile products. Alfa Laval offers a comprehensive range of UF membranes with different characteristics and properties. Bring cost efficiency to your UF membrane process
- Cost-effective operation due to low energy consumption
- Efficient – no need to replace/dispose of the cartridges or consumables used in traditional dead-end filtration
- Excellent chemical and thermal stability with service life up to several years
- Low start-up costs compared with other solutions
- Flexible – available in different combinations of length, diameter and spacer size
Alfa Laval’s experience in membrane technology goes all the way back to the invention of the membrane technology itself (more than 50 years). The UF membranes, which are manufactured in house at our own special facility, are based on a unique construction of either polypropylene or polyester support material in a sanitary full-fit design that provides optimum cleaning conditions. Extremely durable, the membranes have excellent chemical and thermal stability and service life up to several years. We have both flat sheet (for screening or lab work) and spiral (larger applications) membranes, which is an advantage when you scale up. . The ultrafiltration membranes range from 1,000-100,000 molecular weight cut off (MWCO), and the applied pressure is relatively low. Salts, sugars, organic acids and smaller peptides pass through the pores while proteins, fats and polysaccharides are retained. With our ultrafiltration spiral membranes you can fractionate a feed stream into two distinct streams, with each stream containing dissolved components with different molecular weights. Alfa Laval offers 5 different ultrafiltration membrane types: UF-pHt™ series UF-pHt™ membranes tolerate high temperatures and pH values. The membranes are made of polysulphone or polyethersulphone on polypropylene support material. MWCO values range between 2,000 and 100,000 Dalton. Most of the spiral membranes are USDA approved and Halal certified. UF-PP series The UF-PP membranes are made of fluoro polymer, polysulphone, regenerated cellulose acetate or composite fluoro polymer on polypropylene support material. MWCO values range from 1,000 to 100,000 MWCO. UF-PET series The UF-PET spiral membranes are based on polyester support material. The polymeric membrane is made of polysulphone, polyethersulphone or regenerated cellulose acetate. MWCO values range between 5,000 and 25,000 MWCO. Certain types are USDA approved and we can offer products with Halal certificates upon request. Dairy series Alfa Laval has two series of spiral membranes tailor-made for dairy applications: Dairy UF-PET and the Dairy UF-pHt™. The dairy UF-PET spiral membranes, which are manufactured with polyester support material, are available with MWCO values between 5,000 and 20,000 Dalton. The dairy UF-pHt™ spiral membranes, which are cast on polypropylene backing paper, are available with MWCO values between 5,000 and 20,000 Dalton. Both types are USDA approved and we can offer products with Halal certificates upon request. Our ultrafiltration membrane materials are compliant with all major regulations All membrane materials used for both spiral-wound and flat-sheet configurations comply with EU Regulation (EC) 1935/2004, EU Regulation 10/2011 and FDA regulations (CFR) Title 21, and are suitable for use in food and pharmaceutical processing applications. Compliance also extends to the related equipment and fittings, including items such as plate-and-frame units, element housings and pumps. How it works . The basic technology behind membrane filtration involves using a semi-permeable membrane to separate a liquid into two distinct streams. Pumping this liquid across the surface of the membrane creates a positive trans-membrane pressure that allows any components smaller than the porosity of the membrane to pass through, forming the permeate. Any components larger than the pore size simply cannot pass through, and remain behind in what is called the retentate. The surface of the membrane is kept free of blockages by the force of the liquid flow moving parallel to the membrane surface. Construction of the ultrafiltration spiral membrane A spiral membrane comprises of a number of membrane 'envelopes' with 2 membrane sheets separated by a permeate spacer mesh, each glued to a central permeate collection tube. Between each pair of envelopes there is a spacer which creates the feed channel, allowing the feed to flow across the length of the spiral membrane, whilst the permeate passing through the membrane into the membrane envelope flows in a spiral pattern to the permeate collection tube. Red = Feed/retentate. Yellow = Permeate. The flow pattern in a UF spiral membrane where red represents the feed/retentate and yellow the permeate. . Contact us . Find out how our proven ultrafiltration membranes can help you with your filtration operations. First name Last name Email Company Country Enquiry I consent to have my submitted information stored and processed in accordance with Alfa Laval privacy policy, so Alfa Laval can respond to my request. That information is stored and processed in accordance to our privacy policy. Submit . . Most popular customer success stories 2017-07-12 Membranes - a profitable solution for Arla Denmark At its plant set amongst the rolling fields outside the small Danish town of Videb?k, dairy producer Arla is turning what was once regarded as waste into a highly refined food ingredient. It is just o... 2019-07-22 The king of soy proteins With rising living standards, Chinese have become more nutrition conscious. Linyi Shansong Biological Co., Ltd. has cashed in on that trend with a wide range of soybean-based health food products. 2017-07-12 Recipe for great shape Czech-based Lonza Biotec s.r.o. is a top EU producer of healthcare products such as nutrition supplements. Membrane filtration plays a crucial role in the factory’s production process. Related products MF spiral The Alfa Laval microfiltration membranes are based on more than 50 years of experience with membrane technology. about our products here. NF spiral Alfa Laval offers nanofiltration membranes for high-yield concentration and demineralization of products such as antibiotics, whey and beverage production. Learn more. RO spiral Reverse osmosis spiral membranes from Alfa Laval are used for the concentration of heat sensitive feed streams as well as product and water recovery from permeate streams and evaporator condensate ALMEM The standard Alfa Laval ALMEM-UF is an automatic, continuous membrane filtration system widely employed in the food, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Lab/pilot units Alfa Laval provides small-scale units and pilot plants for testing on-site in connection with other process equipment and for testing at our own membrane and application development test centre Auxiliary membrane equipment Alfa Laval provides all you need for a complete membrane system. We also offer a wide range of ancillary equipment and fittings needed for installing and operating the membranes safely and efficiently.''
