Ultrasonically Assisted Ultrafiltration of Whey Solution

The ultrafiltration of whey solutions is a common feature of dairy processes. However, the frequent fouling of ultrafiltration membranes and the subsequent cleaning cycle significantly affects the economics of the process. In this work, we investigated the effect of ultrasonically assisted ultrafiltration. The ultrafiltration of whey solution was investigated in order to determine the main parameters affecting the flux, retention and membrane fouling. The experiments were carried out with an ultrasonic combined laboratory ultrafiltration device, using regenerated cellulose ultrafiltration membranes. The results showed that increasing resistance during filtration is predominantly caused by the concentration polarization, while the participation of membrane fouling in the total resistance is negligible. The ultrasonically assisted ultrafiltration actively reduces the concentration polarization layer resistance. The retention changed slightly with ultrasound power. Practical Applications Combination of ultrasound and ultrafiltration processes in dairy industry may enhance the efficiency of whey separation processes during ultrafiltration of why solutions. The given model for describing the filtration mechanism and modified Reynolds number for ultrasonically assisted batch reactor allow the scale up of coupled ultrafiltration process for dairy industry.