Ultrafiltration is a pressure-driven, membrane-based separation process, which is 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 account for nearly 40% of the current total usage of ultrafiltration membranes. Protein bioseparation is an important component of this application segment. Ultrafiltration is used for protein concentration, desalting, clarification and fractionation (i.e. protein-protein separation). Concentration, desalting and clarification are technologically less demanding and have been in used in the bioprocess industry for some time. Protein fractionation, on the other hand, is a challenging proposition and is definitely a more recent development. This book focuses primarily on protein fractionation.
