Multi-scale modelling of proteins fouling in membrane based processes

The study of membrane phenomena requires efficient modelling methods. For instance, the effect of the process conditions on protein deposits and permeate flux decay during Ultra-Filtrations can be accurately modelled avoiding long trial and error procedures. A promising computational approach is definitely the multi-scale modelling that combines various methods ranging from atomic to macroscopic scales. The formulation of a multi-scale model for simulating the filtration of proteins and enzymes separation in order to recycle them in bioreactors is thus showed. In particular, the fouling of the bovine serum albumin (BSA), De Luca (2014), and the adsorption of the phosphotriesterase (PTE) on polysulfone membranes are modelled to prove the reliability and versatility of the proposed multi-scale approach.