Separation of Bovine Serum Albumin by Foam Fractionation with Sieve Tray Column

A batch foam fractionation column with sieve trays was developed for enhancing the foam drainage. Effects of feeding concentration, air flow rate, number of stages, and sieve pore size on foam fractionation performances were investigated. The results indicated that the sieve trays enhanced the foam drainage effectively and improved enrichment ratio. At the liquid loading volume 490 mL, feeding concentration 0.1 g L-1, and air flow rate 300 mL min(-1), the enrichment ratio reached 7.56 by using 10 stages of sieve trays with opening ratio of 38.25%, which was 1.84 times of that obtained by the control column.