Cultiventris Clupeonella Fish oil unsaturated fatty acids separation using membrane Processes

In this study, membrane process was used to remove omega-3 from the black sea spratClupeonella cultiventrisfish oil. For this purpose, neat polymeric membranes containing 14-17wt.% polyethersulfone (PES) were fabricated by wet phase inversion technique and used for omega-3 removal. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis of permeate showed that the neat membrane containing 17wt.% PES has the best maximum performance for omega-3 removal (nearly 60%). To increase the oil permeation, stearic acid, paraffin and glycerol monostearate additives were added to the polymeric solution as lipophilic compounds and then the properties of the synthesized membranes were investigated using the Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and contact angle (CA) analysis. The SEM results showed that the addition of these materials did not change the synthesized membranes’ morphology significantly compared to neat membrane. Contact angle analysis results also indicated that the lipophilicity of the membranes increased by addition of the lipophilic compounds. Liquid-liquid displacement test showed that the pore size of the neat membrane is in the ultrafiltration range, which is suitable for the removal of omega-3 molecules with a molecular weight of nearly 1000 Dalton as well. Addition of the lipophilic compounds increased thepermeation flux and reduced the percentage of omega-3 removal compared to neat polyethersulfone membranes.