The aim of this work was the study on the separation of soybean oil/n-butane mixtures using a commercial hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane (50 kDa). Oil/n-butane mixtures with mass ratios of 1:1 and 1:3 (wt), with the feed pressures of 5, 7 and 10 bar and transmembrane pressure of 1 bar were studied. Rejections of oil between 21 to 97.2%, oil fluxes between 0.04 and 0.98 kg/m² h and n-butane fluxes between 4 and 46 kg/m² h were observed, strongly influenced by the feed concentration. The increase in oil/n-butane mass ratio caused an increase in oil rejection and a decrease in the permeate flux of oil for most assays. The increase in the operating pressure caused an increase in oil flux and a consequent decrease in oil rejection. No degradation was observed in the membrane module during the operation with this non-aqueous feed stream, as confirmed by integrity tests.

Membrane separation processes have been extensively used for some important industrial separations, substituting traditional methods. However, some applications require the development of new membranes. In this work, we discuss recent progress achieved in this field, focusing on gas and liquid separation using facilitated transport membranes. The advantages of using a carrier species either in a liquid membrane or fixed in a polymer matrix to enhance both the flux and the selectivity of the transport are summarized. The most probable transport mechanisms in these membranes are presented and the improvements needed to spread this technology are also discussed. As examples, we discuss our very successful experiences in air fractioning, olefin/paraffin separation and sugar recovery using liquid and fixed carrier membranes.

Sterilization of fermentation medium involving heat may result in undesirable chemical reactions that alter nutrient concentration and yield products, which interfere in the fermentation performance. Sterilization of heat-sensitive compounds usually involves separate sterilizations of carbon source and nutrient solution. Membrane separation processes are an alternative to thermal processes, as they have many advantages such as the possibility of continuous and modular operation and the use of moderate temperatures. In this context, the objective of this work was the preparation of hollow-fiber membranes and the design of modules suitable for continuous sterilization of fermentation medium. The membrane with the best performance had a maximum pore diameter of 0.2 mu m and a permeability of 42.9 L/m².bar.h for a glucose/peptone/yeast extract medium. A module with 0.26 m² of permeation area was built with these membranes. This module was able to provide a permeate flow rate of 2.2 L/h using a pressure difference of 0.2 bar. The collected permeate was completely sterile, thus confirming the efficiency of this process.