Pharmaceutical Crossflow and Tangential Flow Filtration Systems

Cross-flow filtration systems are typically also called nanofiltration, developed for use by companies needing a method for dealing with low total dissolved solids water. The name nanofiltration comes from the use of a filtration membrane that has pores that are at or below one nanometer in diameter. It can be compared to reverse osmosis, but the trans-membrane pressure required for its operation is significantly smaller. The process is, therefore, more cost-effective. Despite this, it does have its shortfalls, as nanofiltration membranes may fall prey to fouling and scaling.

Tangential flow filtration (TFF) is a rapid and efficient method for separation and purification of biomolecules. It can be applied to a wide range of biological fields such as immunology, protein chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry, and microbiology. TFF can be used to concentrate and desalt sample solutions ranging in volume from 10 mL to thousands of liters. It can be used to fractionate large from small biomolecules, harvest cell suspensions, and clarify fermentation broths and cell lysates.