title: Predicting the distribution of whey protein fouling in a plate heat exchanger using the kinetic parameters of the thermal denaturation reaction of β-lactoglobulin and the bulk temperature profiles.
abstract: Fouling of plate heat exchangers (PHE) is a severe problem in the dairy industry, notably because the relationship between the build-up of protein fouling deposits and the chemical reactions taking place in the fouling solution has not yet been fully elucidated. Experiments were conducted at pilot scale in a corrugated PHE, and fouling deposits were generated using a model β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) fouling solution for which the β-LG thermal denaturation reaction constants had been previously determined experimentally. Then 18 different bulk temperature profiles within the PHE were imposed. Analysis of the fouling runs shows that the dry deposit mass per channel versus the ratio R=kunf/kagg(with kunfand kaggrepresenting, respectively, the unfolding and aggregation rate constants computed from both the identification of the β-LG thermal denaturation process and knowledge of the imposed bulk temperature profile into the PHE channel) is able to gather reasonably well the experimental fouling mass data into a unique master curve. This type of representation of the results clearly shows that the heat-induced reactions (unfolding and aggregation) of the various β-LG molecular species in the bulk fluid are essential to capture the trend of the fouling mass distribution inside a PHE. This investigation also illustrates unambiguously that the release of the unfolded β-LG (also called β-LG molten globule) within the bulk fluid (and the absence of its consumption in the form of aggregates) is a key phenomenon that controls the extent of protein fouling as well as its location inside the PHE.
authors.affiliation: INRA, PIHM-UR638 (Processus aux Interfaces et Hygiène des Matériaux), UMET (Unité Matériaux Et Transformations) UMR CNRS 8207, 369, rue Jules Guesde, BP 20039, 59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France. Electronic address: blanpain-avet@lille.inra.fr.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blanpain-Avet
authors.affiliation: HEI (Ecole des hautes Etudes d'Ingénieur), Département Chimie, Textiles et Process Innovants, 13, rue de Toul, 59046 Lille Cedex, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: André
authors.affiliation: INRA, PIHM-UR638 (Processus aux Interfaces et Hygiène des Matériaux), UMET (Unité Matériaux Et Transformations) UMR CNRS 8207, 369, rue Jules Guesde, BP 20039, 59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khaldi
authors.affiliation: INRA, PIHM-UR638 (Processus aux Interfaces et Hygiène des Matériaux), UMET (Unité Matériaux Et Transformations) UMR CNRS 8207, 369, rue Jules Guesde, BP 20039, 59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bouvier
authors.affiliation: ENSAIA-Université de Lorraine-Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Biomolécules (LiBio), 2 avenue de la Forêt de Haye-TSA 40602, 54518 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy cedex, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.affiliation: INRA, PIHM-UR638 (Processus aux Interfaces et Hygiène des Matériaux), UMET (Unité Matériaux Et Transformations) UMR CNRS 8207, 369, rue Jules Guesde, BP 20039, 59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Six
authors.affiliation: Agrocampus Ouest, UMR 1253, STLO (Science et Technologie du Lait et de l'Oeuf), 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jeantet
authors.affiliation: Agrocampus Ouest, UMR 1253, STLO (Science et Technologie du Lait et de l'Oeuf), 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Croguennec
authors.affiliation: INRA, PIHM-UR638 (Processus aux Interfaces et Hygiène des Matériaux), UMET (Unité Matériaux Et Transformations) UMR CNRS 8207, 369, rue Jules Guesde, BP 20039, 59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delaplace
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007782:Lactoglobulins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D013696:Temperature; D000067816:Whey Proteins
chemical_list: D007782:Lactoglobulins; D000067816:Whey Proteins
keywords: concentration profile modelling; denaturation kinetic constant; fouling mass prediction; plate heat exchanger; β-lactoglobulin