RECOVERY OF PROTEINE MINERAL CONCENTRATES FROM ACID WHEY BY ELECTRO-ACTIVATION

Abstract

An electrophysical wasteless technology is presented based on the electrochemical activation of the acid whey in a periodic regime. Under consideration are variations of such principal parameters as the electric current density, voltage, pH, oxidation-reduction potential, temperature, specific energy consumption, and the degree of isolation of whey proteins in the protein-mineral concentrates (PMCs). It is found that the isolation of whey proteins in the PMCs makes about 80% from the first minutes of the process and remains constant during the rest of it at the current density j=10 mA·cm-2 and the specific energy consumption by 2.5 times lower than during processing at j=20 mA·cm-2, in the latter case, the isolation of whey proteins in the PMCs makes about 73-75%, which allows for decreasing the energy consumption during processing. However, in the liquid phase (LP), the recovery of about 84%, which means that from the first minutes, there are intensively formed protein compounds with a high molecular weight thatwhich cannot be isolated as foam as a result of the ion flotation, remaining in the LP contained in the cathode cell. These investigations demonstrate an opportunity to properly control the processing of the acid whey, which depends on the processing regime (the electric current density) necessary for an optimal isolation of protein fractions in the PMCs, with a simultaneous decrease of the specific energy consumption per a unit of volume.

Keywords

• current density
• electrophysical processing
• energy consumption
• membrane electrolyzer
• whey proteins