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Characterization of Laboratory and Pilot Scale Foam Fractionation of Industrial Enzymes
C.L. Crofcheck
Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Project Description
The purification of proteins from various sources is an important aspect of bioprocessing of pharmaceuticals, enzymes, antibodies, etc. Traditional separation and recovery techniques can be quite expensive. Hence, targeting better protein separation and purification techniques may result in a significant reduction in downstream processing costs.
Foam fractionation has been shown to be a feasible technique for the separation and concentration of a variety of proteins and enzymes. This project focuses on the feasibility of using foam fractionation as a means to separate/concentrate industrial enzymes and other valuable proteins. We are currently continuing work on optimizing the concentration of whey proteins from dilute and concentrated whey solutions and the development of a light-based sensor to monitor the foam fractionation process. We have been able to recovery as much as 90% of the original whey proteins and have been able to achieve a nine-fold increase in the whey protein concentration on a laboratory scale.
We have also investigated the use of surfactants, heat, and gas type as a means to increase performance. We have been able to show that a light scattering technique has the potential to monitor the bubble size and the liquid hold up in liquid foams; however it doesn't appear that the inclusion of the polarized state of the light contributes to the system. This overall project represents a wide-range of application of foam fractionation as a recovery strategy. Foam fractionation is expected to be a low-cost alternative for the recovery and concentration of various proteins.
Impact
This project focuses on the development of a separation/concentration process that could result in significant decreases in the cost of producing industrial enzymes and pharmaceutical proteins, as well as waste disposal.
Publications
Shea, A. P., C. L. Crofcheck, F. A. Payne, and Y. L. Xiong. 2008. Foam Fractionation of α-Lactalbumin and β-Lactoglobulin from a Whey Solution, Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering (submitted).