Treatment Of Whey Wastewater Research Articles

Tight ultrafiltration polyethersulfone membrane for cheese whey wastewater treatment

For the removal of naturally existed hazard organic substances from surface water and wastewater, a facile way to fabricate tight ultrafiltration membrane was employed. A new composite membrane has been developed by using the cutting-edge features of metal organic framework MOF of cerium (Ce) to enhance the performance of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. A sonochemical method, was implied for the synthesis of cerium organic framework, Ce- anthranilic acid, (Ce-AnthMOF), then 0–1 wt, % loading amount Ce-AnthMOF were embedded in the polymeric solution of PES. Applying phase inversion technique, the PES, PES1, PES2 and PES3 ultrfiltration (UF) membranes were fabricated. Both, Ce-AnthMOF and the new membranes were well characterized by different spectral analysis. The study shows a significant enhancement in the hydrophilicity and permeability performance along with increasing Ce-AnthMOF content. Augmenting the hydration layer reduces the pore blocking mechanisms during membrane filtration process and leads to the tendency of a high antifouling surface.Regarding to Humic acid (HA) ultrafiltration results, the water flux recovery (FRR) for PES2 increased significantly compared with pristine PES to be 70% with fixed flux of 19 LMH and rejection of 99%. Additionally, the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) results for polyethylene glycol permeate samples showed that PES2 has MWCO of 1800 Da with pore radius of 1.1 nm. PES2 membrane characterized with tight selective layer with pore size distribution of ~ 10 nm. Testing PES2 for the treatment of whey wastewater shows tremendous removal percent of total chemical oxygen (COD), Biological oxygen demand (BOD), Total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity with 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.8% and 99.6%, respectively. This approach collocates the technique towards the establishment of an economy and an effective treatment for cheese whey wastewater.

Preparation and characterization of nano-filtration and its photocatalytic abilities via pre-coated and self-forming dynamic membranes developed by ZnO, PAC and chitosan.

In the current work, novel dynamic membranes (DM) were tested and introduced for cheese whey wastewater treatment based on resistant and inexpensive materials, polyesters, and chitosan. For the investigation of dynamic membrane (pre-coated and self-forming) characterizations, polyester as a low-cost and natural material with chitosan were chosen to provide the support of the target membrane. The inherent antifouling character of chitosan accompanied by its high hydrophilicity have made this polymer known as an attractive agent for membrane-based wastewater treatment operations. Zinc oxide (ZnO) and powdered activated carbon (PAC) were employed as the dynamic layer. Neat polyester had a chemical oxygen demand (COD) rejection ratio of about 57.61%, but the flux declined sharply. The higher removal efficiency was for the self-forming type: total phosphate (94%) and citrate (95.5%). Fouled dynamic membranes were backwashed by sodium dodecyl-sulphate (SDS), warm water, and distilled water. Results demonstrated that the pre-coated was reduced and fouling increased the flux recovery rate (FRR) (9.1%) while use of the self-forming DM exhibited an aggravation of fouling by decreasing of support FRR (11.1%). It was found that by substitution of deionized water and hot water with SDS, FRR was enhanced. In the following, the photocatalytic ability of the product was investigated. The UV light source increased the removal ratio and FRR. For example, self-forming COD rejection was enhanced (6.63%).

Effect of isoelectric point on cheese whey wastewater treatment using a microbial electrochemical system

In this study, a microbial electrochemical system (MES) was employed to investigate the effect of isoelectric point (IEP) on cheese whey wastewater treatment. The experiments were carried out in a bioreactor equipped with a semicircular carbon cloth and stainless steel electrodes as anode and cathode, respectively. The effects of IEP, whey protein concentration, electrical current, and time were studied. The IEP of the whey protein was determined at pH 5.9. The optimum electrical current was obtained at 6 mA for synthetic cheese whey wastewater. The results of rotary exponential doping showed that the third structure of proteins chenges to the second structure at the IEP. The highest protein removal (98%) was obtained at pH 6. The results showed that 76%, 83%, and 98% protein removal were achieved at 2, 4, and 8 h, respectively.

Treatment of whey wastewater by electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton methods in batch mode

Treatment of whey wastewater by electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton methods in batch mode

Exploitation and optimization of a microbial fuel cell for the treatment of whey wastewater and the power generation

Exploitation and optimization of a microbial fuel cell for the treatment of whey wastewater and the power generation

Treatment of whey wastewater by supercritical water oxidation

Whey wastewater is a by-product of cheese industry, which causes environmental pollution problems due to its containment of heavy organic pollutants. Conventional methods such as biological treatment and physico-chemical treatment are insufficient or ineffective. In this paper, the treatment of cheese whey wastewater has been carried out by supercritical water oxidation, using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. The reaction conditions ranged between temperatures of 400-650°C and residence times of 6-21 s under a pressure of 25 MPa. Treatment efficiencies based on TOC removal were obtained between 75.0% and 99.81%. An overall reaction rate model, which consists of the hydrothermal and the oxidation reactions, was determined for the hydrothermal decomposition of the wastewater with an activation energy of 50.022 (±1.7) kJmol(-1) and a pre-exponential factor of 107.72 (±4.1) s(-1). The oxidation reaction rate orders for the TOC and the oxidant were 1.2 (±0.4) and 0.4 (±0.1) respectively, with an activation energy of 20.337 (±0.9) kJmol(-1), and a pre-exponential factor of 1.86 (±0.5) mmol(-0.6)L(0.6)s(-1) in a 95% confidence level.

Computer-aided process design, economic evaluation and environmental impact assessment for treatment of cheese whey wastewater

Efficient software was used for the comparison of five alternative scenarios for the treatment of cheese whey wastewater resulting from a Cheddar cheese factory. Scenario 1 deals with a cheese whey wastewater treatment plant that produces butter, whey protein concentrate and food-grade ethanol. In scenario 2 the butter-making section is similar to the basic process (scenario 1) with some differences in the concentration of whey proteins and in the removal of residual minerals from water. In scenario 3 the plant produces Manouri (a type of cream cheese) instead of butter. In scenario 4 the plant produces two types of whey protein concentrate (WPC), namely, a rich in whey lipids (WPC 2) and the other a highly purified protein concentrate possessing improved functional properties (WPC 1). In addition a process that produces pure lactose has replaced the ethanol section. In scenario 5 the plant produces butter, whey protein isolate (WPI) containing 95% protein and hydrolyzed-isomerized whey permeate syrup (HIPS). The economic comparison has shown that scenario 3 is the most profitable due to its high net present value (NPV) and low payback period as well as to its low production rate (40% of the full production rate) at the breakeven point. The environmental impact assessment demonstrated that scenario 4 is more environmentally friendly than the others due to the absence of biomass in the effluent.

Coupled anaerobic–aerobic treatment of whey wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor: proof of concept

A proof of concept was performed in order to verify if the coupling of anaerobic and aerobic conditions inside the same digester could efficiently treat a reconstituted whey wastewater at 21 degrees C. The sequencing batch reactor (SBR) cycles combined initial anaerobic phase and final aerobic phase with reduced aeration. A series of 24 h cycles in 0.5 L digesters, with four different levels of oxygenation (none, 54, 108 and 182 mgO2 per gram of chemical oxygen demand (COD)), showed residual soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) of 683 +/- 46, 720 +/- 33, 581 +/- 45, 1239 +/- 15 mg L(-1), respectively. Acetate and hydrogen specific activities were maintained for the anaerobic digester, but decreased by 10-25% for the acetate and by 20-50% for the hydrogen, in the coupled digesters. The experiment was repeated using 48 h cycles with limited aeration during 6 or 16 hours at 54 and 108 mgO2gCODinitial(-1), displaying residual sCOD of 177 +/- 43, 137 +/- 38, 104 +/- 22 and 112 +/- 9 mgL(-1) for the anaerobic and the coupled digesters, respectively. The coupled digesters recovered after a pH shock with residual sCOD as low as 132 mg L(-1) compared to 636 mg L(-1) for the anaerobic digester. With regard to the obtained results, the feasibility of the anaerobic-aerobic coupling in SBR digesters for the treatment of whey wastewater was demonstrated.

Mixing Characteristics and Whey Wastewater Treatment of a Novel Moving Anaerobic Biofilm Reactor

A novel moving anaerobic biofilm reactor was used to treat whey wastewater. In this process, biofilm was grown on a plastic biofilm media module, which was vertically moved up and down in the bulk fluid. The objectives of the study were to investigate the mixing and performance characteristics of the new process in treating whey wastewater. The mixing efficiency was indicated by a dispersion number, D L /uL. D L /uL was up to 1.34, showing that the anaerobic reactor can be taken as a completely mixed reactor. At mesophilic conditions (35 ± 2°C), the admissible volumetric COD loading rate up to 11.6 kg COD m−3 day−1 was achieved with the COD removal efficiency of 89% and the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day. When the HRT was 0.6 days, the volumetric COD loading rate was 15.2 kg COD m−3 day−1, but COD removal efficiency decreased to 81%. The percentage of methane (CH4) in the biogas was 63% on average and the yield of methane was 333.4 L CH4 kg−1 COD removal at ambient conditions.

An alternative for pre‐treatment of high‐strength raw whey wastewaters: submerged membrane bioreactors

AbstractThe direct treatment of whey wastewater at various sludge ages (10–75 days) and high biomass concentration (above 50 g mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) dm−3) in a submerged membrane bioreactor (sMBR) is described. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) of raw whey varied in the range of 60 and 90 g dm−3. After feeding the sMBR with raw whey, effluent COD reduced to about 20 g dm−3. The effluent was free of suspended solids and total coliform bacteria. Total phosphorus (TP) and orthophosphate (Ortho‐P) in the influent varied between 204 and 880 mg dm−3 and between 180 and 620 mg dm−3, and effluent TP and Ortho‐P reduced to 113 and 109 mg dm−3, respectively. The ammonium and nitrate concentrations in the influent were in the ranges of 3.4 and 120 mg dm−3 and 10 and 503 mg dm−3, respectively. The effluent ammonium concentration varied between 17.6 and 198 mg dm−3 and nitrate concentrations varied between 0.9 and 69 mg dm−3. Effluent turbidity varied between 23 and 111 FAU (Formazin Attenuation Unit). The results show that sMBR is an effective pre‐treatment system for high‐strength agro‐wastewaters because of its ability to reduce the pollution load. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry

Modeling and Simulation of Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment and Its Application to Control Design: Case Whey

AbstractModeling and simulation of the anaerobic treatment of whey wastewater was studied. A model inpluding five groups of organisms, whey substrate, butyric, propionic, and acetic acids, CO2, H2, and CH4, was developed for single‐ and two‐stage anaerobic fluidized bed reactors. It included thermodynamic limitations for the acetogenesis reaction, acid‐base equilibria of dissociating compounds (organic acids and CO2) for variable and constant pH situations, gas‐liquid phase mass transfer, and measurement dynamics. The model was adequate to describe both the steady‐state and dynamic behavior of the reactors and was used to study various control schemes. In all cases the feed flow rate was the manipulated variable. Controls of pH, dissolved hydrogen, and organic acids were all successful in simulation and experiment. Simulations were used to determine optimal control parameters for conventional proportional—integral (PI) or proportional—integral—differential (PID) control. The experimentally found optimal values were in close agreement with predetermined simulated values. Simple control using gas analysis results did not give stable control, either in the simulation or in the experiment.