Improvement of tangential microfiltration of gelatin solution using a permanent magnetic field

Membrane technology is an interesting alternative to conventional gelatin clarification methods, resulting in the elimination of refining chemical agents. In this work, the application of a permanent magnetic field as a pre-treatment of the gelatin solutions was proposed as a strategy to improve the microfiltration (MF) performance. Filtration tests were performed using a 1.5% swine gelatin solution at 40 °C through cellulose acetate membranes in a tangential flow module. Prior to the filtrations, the feed solutions were pretreated by the circulation of the solution through magnetic fields with different flux densities, 0.7 T and 1.34 T, for 2 h. The magnetic induction of the solution significantly increased the permeate flux and the recovery of hydraulic permeance by 63% and 122%, respectively, showing the application of the magnetic field in the solution of gelatin is an attractive alternative to improve the performance of the process.