Publication

Advanced Redox Technology Lab

Journal papers

Effect of protein fouling on filtrate flux and virus breakthrough behaviors during virus filtration process
Author
D. Suh, H. Jin, Hosik. Park, C. Lee, Y. H. Cho, Y. Baek
Journal
Biotechnol. Bioeng.
Issue / Vol
vol. 120, p. 1891-1901
Date
(2023.07.01)
Year
2023

Virus filtration process is used to ensure viral safety in the biopharmaceutical downstream processes with high virus removal capacity (i.e., >4 log10). However, it is still constrained by protein fouling, which results in reduced filtration capacity and possible virus breakthrough. This study investigated the effects of protein fouling on filtrate flux and virus breakthrough using commercial membranes that had different symmetricity, nominal pore size, and pore size gradients. Flux decay tendency due to protein fouling was influenced by hydrodynamic drag force and protein concentration. As the results of prediction with the classical fouling model, standard blocking was suitable for most virus filters. Undesired virus breakthrough was observed in the membranes having relatively a large pore diameter of the retentive region. The study found that elevated levels of protein solution reduced virus removal performance. However, the impact of prefouled membranes was minimal. These findings shed light on the factors that influence protein fouling during the virus filtration process of biopharmaceutical production.