Membrane Plasma Fractionation: Effect of the Surface Area

Abstract

The influence of the surface area on the performance of plasma filters for dead-end mode of filtration is presented in this paper.

Theoretical analysis of the dead-end filtration was performed and verified experimentally (using ENKA cellulose-diacetate PF-100 membranes) in respect to β-lipoprotein. The theoretical model allows to optimize the course of the transmembrane pressure during plasma fractionation procedure in dependence of the surface area, initial concentration of macromolecules, total volume of the feed and membrane structure. The results indicate that the surface area effect is an important factor in the operation of membrane plasma fractionation and should be considered in the design of the plasma fractionation filter.