ABSTRACT
Acknowledgment ..................................................................................................................................................................... 664 References ................................................................................................................................................................................ 664
Microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) are the four major membrane processes that have become standard unit operations in the dairy industry. They often offer cheap capital and utility costs and have displaced conventional separation techniques that require phase change, such as the energy-intensive distillation, evaporation, or freeze concentration. Membrane processes require only small amounts of electrical energy for pumps and small amounts of steam for heating cleaning solutions, so that even RO, which is the most energy intensive of membrane processes, offers economic advantage. Also, unlike most separation processes, which require tall and hence more expensive buildings, membrane systems are relatively compact and they may often be accommodated in existing buildings [1-3].
