Dairy industry membrane applications

Vourch et al49 studied the applicability of the RO process for the dairy industry wastewater. The treated wastewater total organic carbon (TOC) was <7 mg/L. It was found that in order to treat a flow of 100 m3/d, 540 m2 of the RO unit is required with 95% water recovery. Dead-end NF and RO were studied for the treatment of dairy wastewater.50 Permeate COD, monovalent ion rejection, and multivalent ion rejection for the dead-end NF were reported as 173-1095 mg/L, 50-84%, and 92.4-99.9%, respectively. When it comes to the dead-end RO membranes, the values for permeate COD, monovalent ion removal, and multivalent ion removal were 45-120 mg/L, >93.8%, and 99.6%, respectively. Membrane filtration technology can be better utilized as a tertiary treatment technology and the resultant effluent quality will be high. There can be situations where the treated effluents can be reused (especially if RO is used for the treatment). 

Rosenberg, M. 1995. Current and future applications for membrane process in the dairy industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 6, 12-19. 

Ultrafiltration of whey is a major membrane-based process in the dairy industry however, the commercial availability of this application has been limited by membrane fouling, which has a concomitant influence on the permeation rate. Ultrasound cleaning of these fouled membranes has revealed that the effect of US energy is more significant in the absence of a surfactant, but is less markedly influenced by temperature and transmembrane pressure. The results suggest that US acts primarily by Increasing turbulence within the cleaning solution [91]. 

Challenges and Emerging Applications of Membranes in the Dairy Industry. 660... 

Both retentate and permeate from membrane separation techniques have become important starting materials in producing novel products and ingredients from milk of unique functional properties and organoleptic quality. Henning et al. [7] enumerated the current and new applications of membrane technologies in the dairy industry, which include... 

CHALLENGES AND EMERGING APPLICATIONS OF MEMBRANES IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 22.6.1 Challenges... 

Maubois, J.L., New applications of membrane technology in the dairy industry, Aust. J. Dairy TechnoL, 46, 91, 1991. 

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