Protein residual fouling identification on UF membranes using ATR-FT-IR and multivariate curve resolution

TY - JOUR

T1 - Protein residual fouling identification on UF membranes using ATR-FT-IR and multivariate curve resolution

AU - Jensen, Jannie Krog

AU - Amigo Rubio, Jose Manuel

AU - Engelsen, Søren Balling

AU - van der Berg, Franciscus Winfried J

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Industrial ultrafiltration membranes and residual fouling, persistent after cleaning-in-place, is studied with ATR-FT-IR (attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared) in combination with MCR (multivariate curve resolution). MCR has rarely been used in combination with IR spectroscopy and has never previously been applied to spectra from ultrafiltration membranes. The MCR results revealed that by applying non-negativity to both loading and concentration profiles in combination with an equality constraint on the loadings, the optimal number of components was determined and the different chemical entities in the spectra were correctly identified as either fouling residuals (protein and fat) or membrane components (polyethersulfone and grafting). In conclusion the MCR results provided an easy and interpretable overview of the fouling distribution and visualized the potential pitfalls when measuring with ATR-FT-IR, namely the varying penetration depth and layered sample composition. This study presents a novel method to investigate and map the residual fouling on industrial ultrafiltration membranes that averages out insignificant features while enhancing the important/principal ones. The method can aid in optimization of cleaning procedures and in designing improved membrane systems and materials.

AB - Industrial ultrafiltration membranes and residual fouling, persistent after cleaning-in-place, is studied with ATR-FT-IR (attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared) in combination with MCR (multivariate curve resolution). MCR has rarely been used in combination with IR spectroscopy and has never previously been applied to spectra from ultrafiltration membranes. The MCR results revealed that by applying non-negativity to both loading and concentration profiles in combination with an equality constraint on the loadings, the optimal number of components was determined and the different chemical entities in the spectra were correctly identified as either fouling residuals (protein and fat) or membrane components (polyethersulfone and grafting). In conclusion the MCR results provided an easy and interpretable overview of the fouling distribution and visualized the potential pitfalls when measuring with ATR-FT-IR, namely the varying penetration depth and layered sample composition. This study presents a novel method to investigate and map the residual fouling on industrial ultrafiltration membranes that averages out insignificant features while enhancing the important/principal ones. The method can aid in optimization of cleaning procedures and in designing improved membrane systems and materials.

U2 - 10.1016/j.chemolab.2015.03.006

DO - 10.1016/j.chemolab.2015.03.006

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0169-7439

VL - 144

SP - 39

EP - 47

JO - Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems

JF - Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems

ER -