Degumming of Crude Soybean Oil by Ultrafiltration Using Polymeric Membranes

C. PAGLIERO; N. A. OCHOA; J. MARCHESE; M. MATTEA

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS SOCIETY (JAOCS)

Springer

Año: 2001 vol. 78 p. 793 - 796

0003-021X

In this study, the ability of two ultrafiltration polymeric membranes to perform the degumming of a crude soybean oil/hexane mixture is tested. The performance of both membranes is defined in terms of their permeation flux, permeate color, and rejection of phospholipids. One of the membranes was synthesized in our laboratories from polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF); the other one is a commercially available embrane made of polyimide. The degumming experimentswere done in a stirred dead-end ultrafiltration cell pressurized with N2. Results show that tested membranes are suitable for removing phospholipids from the crude oil/hexane miscella inthe range of temperature and transmembrane pressure utilized in this work. Both membranes have high selectivity regarding phospholipids and produce a moderate reduction in permeatecolor. The PVDF membrane gives permeate fluxes up to threefold larger than those obtained with polyimide membrane at the same operational conditions, making the former more suitablefor use at industrial scale.