Evaluation of the mechanism of membrane fouling in the clarification of date syrup by the ultrafiltration process

The usage of membrane technology can improve the quality of sugar syrup in the clarification of date juice. Also, reducing the consumption of clarifying chemical agents and saving more energy are among the advantages of this technology. This research was conducted in order to investigate the efficiency of the membrane process in the clarification of date syrup and to evaluate the mechanism of membrane clogging resulting from organic and inorganic substances in date liquid sugar. In this study, the effect of temperature, flow rate and hydrostatic pressure on the permeate flux in the ultrafiltration process was investigated, and the membrane fouling mechanism was evaluated in different operating conditions. In addition, fouling analysis was performed using Hermia models. The results showed that the main mechanism of fouling in the membrane process of sugar syrup clarification is the mechanism of cake layer formation.