Nanofiltration: Principles, Process Modeling, and Applications

In recent years membrane processes have received huge attention from researchers due to their wide applications and their advantages over other conventional thermal separation processes. Nanofiltration (NF) membranes fill the gap between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. The filtration efficiency of this pressure-driven separation process depends on steric and charge effects. The characteristic features of NF have made the separation of various organic compounds and inorganic salts much easier. NF is used by both food and pharmaceutical industries for concentration, fractionation, and purification of various compounds. This chapter highlights the scope and features of nanofiltration, the characteristics of NF membrane, mathematical modeling, the types of modules used in nanofiltration processes, and provides an overview of the processes used for membrane preparation. The applications of NF technology for juice concentration, water treatment, whey processing, and the effective separation of various biomolecules such as polyphenols from juices are also discussed.