Membrane processes are developed to enhance the yield and quality across a range of applications, including wastewater treatment, biorefining, and the food and pharmaceutical industries. In the projects Grass2Food and Leaf2Food, membrane processes have been developed for a pilot scale green biorefinery to recover and purify proteins from grass into a food-grade ingredient. The use of membranes is also investigated in membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment and in perfusion systems for continuous cell cultivation, targeting the production of pharmaceutical compounds subsequently extracted via membranes.

Controlling fouling is essential to ensure sustainable membrane performance. Efforts are focused on developing models to describe membrane fouling mechanisms. A key innovation is a real-time, in situ fouling monitoring method based on 3ω sensing, which enables fouling quantification, differentiation between organic and inorganic fouling types, and optimization of membrane cleaning strategies.

The group’s strength lies in its interdisciplinary approach, operating at the interface of chemical engineering, biotechnology, physics, and electrical engineering to explore and advance sustainable membrane technologies.