Koch Membrane Systems' crossflow filtration provides a constant flow, which allows easy integration into conventional biofermentation based product manufacturing steps. When incorporated into a continuous fermenter design, crossflow filtration results in a high quality product stream whilst enabling fermentation at an increased cell mass concentration improving the fermenter product yield.

The membrane system provides an absolute barrier against biomass carryover avoiding downstream product recovery step malfunction. The increased product yield with the improved product concentration, contributes to reducing costs for subsequent concentration and purification steps. Downstream product recovery steps can employ the crossflow membrane system with diafiltration (water washing) for enhanced product yields or product quality improvement. Reverse osmosis, another crossflow filtration tool, can be used to concentrate process side streams prior to the final recovery steps.

Peter Bouchard, global director of marketing at KMS said: “Compared with conventional technologies such as rotary vacuum filtration and centrifugation, our crossflow spiral and hollow fibre filtration systems can provide energy-effective method for clarifying, fractionating and concentrating feed stock materials for fermentation and downstream product recovery steps. Typically we first evaluate bioprocesses on bench scale equipment, and then move into piloting to demonstrate commercial feasibility. Our dedicated process and systems engineering group are available to help customers with the design and commissioning of all our systems.”