Engineering Aspects of Membrane Separation and Application in Food Processing

During the past two decades, membrane separation processes have become standard. The properties of modern membrane technology make it suitable for applications in the food industry. This book presents the principles and applications of these techniques. The first section of the text covers characteristics of membrane separation processes, mass transfer membrane processes, and concentration polarization. The second section addresses applications in the dairy industry, animal products processing, fruit and beverage processing, as well as vegetable product processing. The final section details membrane bioreactors, cost analysis, and the design of complex membrane processes.

Robert Field is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge where he earned MEng and PhD degrees in chemical engineering. He is currently a professor of engineering science at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. His work in membrane science and technology has examined the physical phenomena governing the? performance,? particularly? limitations? to? performance,? of? both? pressure-driven? and? activity-driven? membrane? processes.? The? greatest? industrial? impact? of? this? research continues to be in the evolution of strategies for fouling mitigation in mem-brane? processes.? He? has? made? a? world-leading? contribution? to? the? development? of? critical? flux? theory? for? porous? membrane? processes,? which? has? led? to? a? revolution? in? membrane? operation? because? designers? of? these? processes? no? longer? seek? high? fluxes? by? way? of? large? driving? pressures? and? high? cross-flow? velocity? but? tend? to? select modest fluxes to reduce the energy usage and cleaning costs. The change of mind-set can truly be described as a paradigm shift. There has also been significant work in pervaporation and membrane distillation. He has served as vice president of the European Membrane Society, and to date has written more than 100 papers and edited? or? coauthored? five? books? on? the? different? aspects? of? membrane? science? and? technology. He also worked for a number of years in the membrane group at Bath University and has been on sabbatical leave to MIT on three occasions.

Erika? Bekassy-Molnar? graduated? from? the? Technical? University? of? Budapest? (TUB), Hungary in 1962 as a mechanical engineer with specialization in chemical industry.? She? then? worked? at? the? TUB,? Faculty? of? Chemical? Engineering? as? assis-tant, associate, and full professor. Her academic qualifications include Doctor of the TUB? (1969),? Specialist? of? Cybernetics? (1970),? Candidate? of? Chemical? Sciences? of? the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) (1989), PhD from TUB (1994), Dr Habil from TUB (1994), and Doctor of the HAS (2004).In 1995, she became the head of the Department of Food Engineering at Szent Istvan University, Budapest and where she worked in the field of membrane science and? application.? The? main? focus? of? her? research? is? wine,? fruit? juice,? and? drinking? water production using different mild and cheaper membrane methods. Her research has been published in 83 English and 33 Hungarian scientific papers and books, 89 international congress full papers, and 242 proceedings. In 2001, she was awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture for the industrial applications of her patents. In 2009, she received the Gold Merit Cross of the Hungarian Republic. Currently, she works as a professor emerita at Szent Istvan University, Budapest.

Frank Lipnizki earned his BEng (Hons) in manufacturing and management from the University of Bath, United Kingdom in 1995; diploma in mechanical engineer-ing from the University of Bochum, Germany in 1996; PhD in chemical engineer-ing? from? the? University? of? Bath,? United? Kingdom? in? 1999;? and? post-doc? in? food? engineering? from? Lund? University,? Sweden? in? 2000.? He? is? a? business/product and associated? R&D? manager? at? Alfa? Laval—Business? Centre? Membranes,? Denmark? since? 2001,? and? an? adjunct? professor?of?chemical? engineering? at? Lund? University,? Sweden since January 1, 2014.His? main? research interests?are?the integration?and?optimization?of?membrane? process? for? the? food,? biotech,? and? process? industry.? He? has? authored? more? than? 30 publications in reviewed journals and books and more than 90 contributions in international conferences and workshops on membrane technology.

Gyula? Vatai? qualified? as? a?chemical? engineer,?with? specialization? in?process?engineering,? from? the? Faculty? of?Technology,?University? of? Novi? Sad,?Novi? Sad,? Yugoslavia? in?1975.? He?earned? his? PhD? in? technical? sciences? from? the? Faculty? of? Technology,? University? of? Novi? Sad,? Novi? Sad,? Yugoslavia? in? 1986;? candidate? of? Chemical Sciences from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1995; Dr Habil from the University of Horticulture and Food Industry, Budapest in 1999; and Academy Doctor? of? Agricultural? Sciences? degree? from? the? Hungarian? Academy? of? Sciences? in? 2010.? He? is? a? university? professor? since? 2000? and? the? head? of? the? Department? of? Food? Engineering,? Faculty? of? Food? Science,? Szent? Istvan? University,? Budapest,? Hungary.? He? is? one? of? the? founders? of? the? educational? structure?of?the?process?engineering? branch.? He? is? also? the? head? of? the? Food? Science? Doctoral? School,? teaching and supervising PhD students.He has made significant achievements in the elaboration of hydrodynamics and mass? transfer? in? bioreactors,? liquid–liquid? extraction,? and? membrane? separation? processes.? His? research? is? focused? on? the? application? of? membrane technology?in?drinking water treatment, edible oil filtration, fruit juice concentration with complex membrane processes, and waste water separation as well as modeling of mass trans-fer? in? membrane?separation? processes.? He? has? authored?more?than?200?scientific papers, of which 130 papers are in English with more than 1000 citations. He is the author of eight chapters in technical books (membrane applications) in English. He is a member of several national and international research organizations.