Ali Haghtalab - Department of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modarres University,Tehran, Iran
Shahriar Osfouri - Department of Chemical Engineering, Persian Gulf University, Boushehr, Iran.

The reverse micelles have been used for extraction and purification of proteins and enzymes in downstream processing. In this study a simple complexation model was developed for protein extraction using reverse micelles. We assumed that the size of protein-reverse micelle complex is a function of net charge of protein and salt concentration. The model has been applied to correlate the experimental data for reverse micellar extraction of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The solution of reverse micelles for extraction of BSA was composed of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a cationic surfactant. Moreover, the effects of surfactant concentration, pH of aqueous phase, and salt concentration were investigated. In comparison with experiment the results of the model are in very good agreement.

Extraction, Modeling, Reverse micelle, Bioseparation, BSA