Application of Membrane Technology in the Field of Antibiotics

Antibiotics are chemical substances produced or synthesized by microorganisms or higher animals and plants in the process of life, which can inhibit or kill certain pathogens. The birth and development of antibiotics has played a very important role in protecting human health. In the past 60 years since the emergence of antibiotics, many infectious diseases will not appear on a large scale, and the average life expectancy of human beings has increased by at least 10 years. The positive role of antibiotics is also reflected in the research and development of the diagnosis and treatment of some new sudden infectious diseases.

1. Application of membrane technology in the field of antibiotics

The production process of antibiotics can be roughly divided into four processes: fermentation, filtration, concentration and crystallization. The traditional filtration methods mainly include: adsorption method, solvent extraction method, ion exchange method and precipitation method. Although these methods have their own characteristics, they often have problems such as complicated technology, high labor cost, time-consuming, high energy consumption and serious pollution. In order to improve product quality, reduce cost, increase yield and shorten treatment time, further research and improvement are needed on the existing post-treatment processes and methods. In addition, with the rapid development of biotechnology, new products continue to emerge, and the purity requirements of new products are correspondingly increased, which puts forward new requirements for the post-treatment process.

Membrane technology is a new type of separation technology. It has no phase change and no secondary pollution in the separation process, and at the same time, membrane technology is easy to operate, compact in structure, low in maintenance costs, easy to automate, and fast and efficient. It is used in the post-treatment of fermented products. Compared with other filtration processes, the use of membrane treatment technology not only removes more impurities, but also simplifies its production process, avoids the consumption and residue of organic solvents, reduces investment costs and operating costs, improves product yield, and achieves green, environmentally friendly and energy-saving manufacturing of antibiotics.

2. Application cases of membrane technology

Membrane technology can be mainly used for the clarification of antibiotic fermentation broth, desalination, decolorization and concentration of products, as well as standard discharge or reuse of production wastewater. At present, Jiangsu Jiuwu Hi-tech Co., LTD has promoted the application of ceramic membrane technology on antibiotics such as cephalosporin, colistin sulfate, streptomyces sulfate, erythromycin, vancomycin, chlortetracycline, clavulanic acid, and doramectin.

Case: Ceramic membrane clarification of lincomycin

Lincomycin is an alkaline antibiotic against gram positive bacteria. At present, the traditional industrial extraction process is generally as follows: after the fermentation broth is pretreated, the product is obtained by solvent extraction. This technology consumes a large amount of organic solvent and has a low extraction partition coefficient, which leads to problems such as environmental pollution and low yield. Using the method of ceramic membrane filtration and resin adsorption to replace the traditional extraction technology can form a green and efficient production technology of lincomycin.

Compared with the traditional extraction method, the ceramic membrane technology has a simple operation process and a high degree of automation, which greatly reduces labor costs and production costs by 23%; protein and most impurities in lincomycin fermentation broth can be effectively removed by ceramic membrane technology, and the purity of lincomycin fermentation broth is increased by about 20%; the total yield of lincomycin is greater than 97%. In addition, the discharge of high-concentration wastewater is reduced by 50%, meeting the requirements of clean production.