Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology has evolved as a revolutionary process in its own right with
the potential of dramatically changing the processing of foods, healthcare
products, chemicals and agricultural products. Pharmaceutical processes are
often associated with Biotechnology; however they are each distinct application
areas. Both have vast opportunities for the use of membrane filtration
technology.
Membrane technology offers advantages in its ability to
achieve specific fractionation of high value products without the use of high
energy input, chemical addition or mechanical force input. The results being in
many cases, extremely high purity of these products at much higher yields than
those of traditional separation methods like centrifugation or filter presses.
Cell harvesting or biomass recovery is an important step in any
fermentation process, especially when manufacturing bulk intermediates such as
antibiotics. Membrane filtration has successfully replaced separation methods
such as rotary vacuum filters or centrifugation in many plants by significantly
improving product yields and reducing operator involvement and maintenance
costs. Membranes are also a standard part of industrial enzyme manufacturing
lines to concentrate the enzymes prior to further downstream processing.
The emerging biotechnology filed has numerous potential applications.
Pilot scale plants are available for trialling filtration on new or modified
applications.
Biotechnology applications include:
- Enzymes
- Insecticides and Pesticides
- Industrial Alcohol
- Biodegradable Plastics and Films
- Fine Chemicals
- Concentration and demineralisation of blood plasma
Pharmaceutical applications include:
- Antibiotics
- Proteins and Peptides
- Amino Acids and Vitamins
- Vaccines
- Growth Hormones
- Antigens and Antioxidants