Membrane filtration of Mozzarella whey Original Research Article

Whey is a by-product of cheese production which is used mainly as animal feed or released into the wastewater treatment process, although it is rich in valuable components. Recent developments in membrane filtration have provided exciting new opportunities for large-scale protein and lactose fractionation. The ahn of this research was to develop a complex membrane filtration technology for whey processing. The microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes were carried out with pilot-scale equipment. For these filtration procedures three modules — hollow-fibre, ceramic and spiral wound — were used. The permeates from micro- and ultrafiltration (MF and UF), and the original whey sample were filtered on nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) equipment. After the measurements new methods for using whey were proposed. With this complex method cheese production can be redesigned to a more environmentally friendly and efficient process. All membrane filtration methods were used to find the potential applications of membrane systems for whey recycling and utilization.