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US 2024/0327759 A1Published application
Multi-step methods of cleaning dairy membranes
AssigneeEcolab USA Inc.
InventorsStephan Doerries, Matthias Schmitz, Ralf Krack, Paige Mary Owens-Polta, Krista Otting, Sukhwan Soontravanich, Jesse Ray Murphy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of dairy membrane cleaning. In particular, the methods comprise stepwise treatment of the dairy membranes to beneficially remove fouling and clean the membranes. The methods are suitable for dairy membranes including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis membranes utilized in dairy production.
Claims20
A method of cleaning a dairy filtration membrane comprising:
- (a) contacting the dairy filtration membrane with an enzyme composition, wherein the enzyme composition comprises a lipase and a buffer, wherein the pH of the enzyme composition is from about 7.5 to about 11.0;
- (b) contacting the dairy filtration membrane with a surfactant composition, wherein the surfactant composition comprises an alkyl polyglucoside, an alkyl polypentoside, an amine oxide, an alcohol ethoxylate, an alkoxylated block copolymer, a sulfonated surfactant, or a mixture thereof;
- wherein the pH of the surfactant composition is from about 7.5 to about 11.0;
- (c) rinsing the dairy filtration membrane;
- (d) contacting the dairy filtration membrane with an acidic composition, wherein the acidic composition comprises an acid, an acidic anionic surfactant, or a mixture thereof;
- wherein the pH of the acidic composition is about 2.5 or lower;
- wherein the acidic composition deactivates the lipase;
- and
- (e) rinsing the dairy filtration membrane.
6 more elements
A method of cleaning a dairy filtration membrane comprising:
- (a) contacting the dairy filtration membrane with an enzyme composition, wherein the enzyme composition comprises a lipase, a protease, and a buffer, wherein the pH of the enzyme composition is from about 8.0 to about 10.5;
- wherein the dairy filtration membrane comprises a microfiltration membrane, an ultrafiltration membrane, nanofiltration membrane, and/or a reverse osmosis membrane;
- (b) contacting the dairy filtration membrane with a surfactant composition, wherein the surfactant composition comprises an alkyl polyglucoside, an alkyl polypentoside, an amine oxide, an alcohol ethoxylate, an alkoxylated block copolymer, a sulfonated surfactant, or a mixture thereof;
- wherein the pH of the surfactant composition is from about 8.0 to about 10.5;
- (c) rinsing the dairy filtration membrane;
- (d) contacting the dairy filtration membrane with an acidic composition, wherein the acidic composition comprises a linear alkyl sulfonate, a branched alkyl sulfonate, a substituted aromatic sulfonate, an unsubstituted aromatic sulfonate, an organic acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, methanesulfonic acid, or mixture thereof, or a mixture thereof;
- wherein the pH of the acidic composition is about 2.5 or lower;
- wherein the acidic composition deactivates the lipase;
- and
- (e) rinsing the dairy filtration membrane.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.