Direct observation of the microfiltration of yeast cells at the micro-scale: Characterization of cake properties

[Display omitted] •Non-spherical and polydispersed particle suspensions are used to mime yeast shape and size distribution.•Cakes of yeast cells exhibit a very compact behavior which leads to low permeability.•Cakes of monodispersed spherical and “peanut” shape particles exhibit similar properties.•Cakes of polydispersed spherical and “peanut” shape particles exhibit an intermediate behavior between monodispersed particles and yeast cells.•Cakes of yeast cells are the only to exhibit a compressible behavior. This study examines the accumulation of yeast cells at the membrane surface and the morphology of the formed cake through microscale monitoring and analysis of the microfiltration process. An original dead-end microfiltration device with a model membrane was designed and coupled with an optical imaging system to provide direct observation from the side, allowing in-situ real time study of the filtration operation (Valencia et al. 2020 [1]). Here, the deposition of yeast cells, monodispersed and polydispersed particles, in the same size range that yeast cells, was analyzed. Image processing was used to perform a quantitative characterization of cake morphological properties in terms of height, porosity, permeability, Kozeny coefficient and specific resistance. The cakes formed by monodispersed spherical and non-spherical rigid particles exhibit a similar incompressible behavior with higher porosity than yeast cakes, with mean porosity values of 0.38 for the rigid particles and 0.15 for the yeast at the end of the filtration run, respectively. The cake obtained by the microfiltration of a model suspension of polydispersed particles close to yeast size and shape is more compact (porosity of 0.29) and less permeable. However, polydispersity does not fully explain yeast cake properties, in particular its compressibility. Indeed, the yeast cake has a high compressibility index n = 1.1, which is reflected in a significant volume expansion of the yeast cake after transmembrane pressure was removed.