detailed study of mosambi juice clarification by hybrid (packed column and membrane) process

Citrus fruit juice especially mosambi demands were raised during non-seasoning time owing to a rich source of vitamin c. membrane separation was the unique method to store the clarified juice at different operation conditions. membrane performance such as, flux declined and cake layer formation was enhanced with continuous operation. such demerit was improved by pretreatment method before clarification of juice. several pretreatment such as centrifugation, fining agent (gelatin and bentonite), and centrifugation followed with the fining agent were commonly employed. individually packed columns supported with glass beads and molecular sieves were used for the pretreatment of mosambi juice. during packed column study pretreated juice physicochemical properties depended on packing support, feed flow rate, packing factor, and operating time. the packing factor value was enhanced from 446 to 7625 by replacing the support material glass beads from molecular sieves. series column operation had a better ability to maximize the removal of high molecular weight compounds (pectin, cellulose, and hemicellulose) from raw juice compared to single column treatment. after series column pretreatment, the average particle size was reduced from 40 to 1 µm. column pretreated juice was clarified from dead end membrane filtration unit. polyamide membrane had an average pore size 2.5 µm was used for clarification of juice at 69 kpa transmembrane pressure drops. 95% clarity was enhanced and 97% alcohol-insoluble solids were removed from pretreated juice after the membrane process.