Effect of electric field during gel-layer controlled ultrafiltration of synthetic and fruit juice

Electric field enhanced ultrafiltration of pectin–sucrose mixture (synthetic juice) and mosambi (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) fruit juice using 50,000 (MWCO) polyerthersulfon membrane is studied in a cross-flow cell. Pectin, completely rejected by the membrane, forms a gel type layer over the membrane surface. Under the application of an external dc electric field across the membrane, gel-layer formation is restricted leading to an enhancement of permeate flux. During ultrafiltration of synthetic juice, application of dc electric field (800 V/m) increases the permeate flux to almost threefold compared to that with zero electric field. A theoretical model based on integral method assuming suitable concentration profile in the boundary layer is developed. The proposed model is used to predict the permeate flux in gel-layer governed electric field enhanced ultrafiltration. Predictions of the model are successfully compared with the experimental results under a wide range of operating conditions. Experiments with fruit juice also demonstrated significant increase in flux with the application of a suitable electric field.