Protein transmission during Dean vortex microfiltration of yeast suspensions

Substantially higher rates of protein and fluid volume transport for microfiltration of yeast suspensions were possible with improved hydrodynamics using centrifugal fluid instabilities called Dean vortices. Under constant permeate flux operation with suspended yeast cells, a helical module exhibited 19 times the filtration capacity of a linear module. For feed containing both BSA and beer yeast under constant transmembrane pressure with diafiltration, about twice as much protein (BSA and other proteins from cell lysis) was transported out of the feed by the helical module as compared with the linear module. The volumetric permeation flux improvements for the helical over the linear module ranged from 18 to 43% for yeast concentrations up to 4.5 dry wt %. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 65: 649–658, 1999.