Open AccessPilot Study on the Removal of Lactic Acid and Minerals from Acid Whey Using Membrane Technology
Author(s) -
Sahar Talebi,
Francisco Suárez,
George Q. Chen,
Xia Chen,
Karren Bathurst,
Sandra E. Kentish
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acs sustainable chemistry and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.878
H-Index - 109
ISSN - 2168-0485
DOI - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b06561
Subject(s) - nanofiltration , electrodialysis , ultrafiltration (renal) , lactic acid , chemistry , lactose , chromatography , membrane technology , pulp and paper industry , membrane , food science , biochemistry , genetics , biology , bacteria , engineering
Acid whey presents a major disposal issue for the dairy industry due to its high lactic acid and mineral concentration. In this work, the feasibility of using membrane technology to treat acid whey to produce high quality whey powder was demonstrated at pilot scale. Three process combinations were tested, namely (1) ultrafiltration and electrodialysis, (2) ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and electrodialysis, and (3) ultrafiltration, dia-nanofiltration and electrodialysis. All three combinations were successful in reducing the levels of lactic acid and minerals in acid whey. However, the lowest ratio between lactic acid and lactose (0.017 g lactic acid/ g of lactose) was obtained with the process utilizing diananofiltration. The energy required for electrodialysis of ultrafiltration permeate and dia-nanofiltration retentate was comparable (7.5 and 7.8 kWh/ tonne of feed, respectively). However, the diananofiltration retentate was at least 3.5 times more concentrated than the ultrafiltration permeate, thus ...
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