Investigation on the Effect of CaCl2 and EDTA on Phosphorous Rejection and Permeate Flux during the Ultrafiltration of Canola Oil

In the present study, the growth of phospholipid's micelles in canola oil by chemical pretreatment and their separation by using membrane technology was investigated. Aqueous solutions of calcium chloride (1% w/w) and EDTA (150 mM) were added to canola oil miscella before ultrafiltration process. Ultrafiltration was conducted by a flat sheet PVDF membrane with two different MWCOs (50 KDa, M116, and 100 KDa, M183) at various temperatures and pressures (25 - 55 ̊C and 2 - 5 bar). Results showed that the permeate flux of M183 membrane was approximately half that of the M116 membrane. The EDTA pretreatment resulted to increase in the permeate flux obtained through M116 membrane. Increasing the operation temperature and pressure led to increase of the permeate flux. The phosphorus content of samples ultrafiltrated by the M116, especially those pretreated by EDTA, was more than that of other samples. Increasing temperature led to decrease of phosphorus rejection from permeates.