Effect of number of bipolar membranes and temperature on the performance of bipolar membrane electroacidification

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of stacking bipolar membranes (1-4 BPMs) on the energy and electroacidification parameters, as well as the temperature (10, 20, and 35 degrees C) on the efficiency of bipolar membrane electroacidification (BMEA) of soybean protein for the production of isolate. BMEA is based on the production of protons by dissociation of water molecules at the interface of bipolar membranes. Increasing the surface of bipolar membranes accelerates the electrochemical precipitation in a quasilinear fashion, while also increasing the electrical efficiency. The stacking has no effect on the final protein precipitation rate. The main effect of increasing the temperature from 10 to 35 degrees C appears to be a decrease in the duration of the procedure (30.42 vs 26.79 min) as well as increasing the energy efficiency. Increasing temperature slows the precipitation of proteins by decreasing hydrophobic interactions.