Design and Performance of a Pilot Scale High-Gradient Magnetic Filter Using a Mandhala Magnet and Its Application for Soy-Whey Protein Purification

The scalability of economic high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) technology is essential in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept. One of the means is the application of a permanent magnet with a hollow cylindrical volume made from identical magnetic blocks (e.g., Mandhala), another is the development of a High-Gradient Magnetic Filter (HGMF) with a new backwashing concept. The Mandhala (Magnetic Arrangement for Novel Discrete Halbach Layout) magnet produces a dipolar transversal magnetic field in the center of the bore and its usable volume is easily adaptable to the separation device's extensions. The chapter presents the pilot scale design of the Mandhala magnet and the HGMF as well as experimental performance tests using a water-magnetic beads model system. Subsequently, experiments using soy-whey as a real feedstock demonstrate the purification of the protein Bowman-Birk inhibitor (BBI), an agent against cancer and multiples sclerosis.