1. A. HOWELL School ofChemical Engineering, University ofBath, Claverton Down, Bath, UK, BA2 7AY 1.1 WHAT IS A MEMBRANE PROCESS? Every day over 20 million litres of brackish water are pumped out of the ground near Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and passed through thin sheets of cellulose acetate known as reverse osmosis membranes before being used as part of the city's water supply. In St Maurice les Chateauneuf, France three million litres a day of ground water are ultrafiltered to supply the city and on test sites in Australia settled sewage is being disinfected by being passed through microfiltration membranes. Many of the foods we eat and beverages we drink have used membranes during their processing. Orange juice can be concentrated by membranes to make a concentrate which retains more of the flavour than does evaporation. Milk can be concentrated slightly by means of a membrane before making a cheese in a process which produces no whey. Gases rising from the ground in a waste tip can be piped away and the carbon dioxide separated from the methane by a membrane process allowing the methane then to be used as a fuel, simultaneously saving energy and reducing the greenhouse effect since methane is more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
...well refenced and full of practical information which, together with the various exercises, makes it a useful source of information for those working on membrane applications in bioprocessing. - Chemistry & Industry.; ...Membranes in Bioprocessing: Theory and Applications is very timely for the end-user since the contents cover both the theory and practical aspects of membranes, which are of significant value in bioprocessing...The book is an asset to practitioners, students and lecturers in biochemistry, industrial chemistry, chemical engineering and biotechnology. It can also provide a good source of information for the industrial community about the usage of membranes in the relevant industry. - The Genetic Engineer and Biotechnologist
