Conference Dates

May 18-22, 2003

First Page

175

Abstract

Reducing fouling in heat exchangers during treatment of milk products is one of the great challenges in the dairy industry. One approach to mitigate fouling is to alter the surface characteristics of the heat exchangers making them less prone to protein adsorption. On this background the European project MODSTEEL was established to study the use of new modified stainless steel surfaces to control fouling of milk components. This part of the project focuses on the adsorption of b-lactoglobulin (b-Lg) from a whey protein solution on unmodified and modified 316 2R stainless steel surfaces by in situ ellipsometry under well-defined flow conditions, in the turbulent regime. The effects of temperature, flow rate and surface modification, including SiF3+ and MoS2 ion implantation, DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) sputtering, and DLC-PlasmaCVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition), were investigated. The amount of protein adsorbed is discussed in relation to the thermal stability of b-Lg, surface properties and hydrodynamic conditions.

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