CA2244109A1 - Method to treat whey - Google Patents

Method to treat whey Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2244109A1
CA2244109A1 CA 2244109 CA2244109A CA2244109A1 CA 2244109 A1 CA2244109 A1 CA 2244109A1 CA 2244109 CA2244109 CA 2244109 CA 2244109 A CA2244109 A CA 2244109A CA 2244109 A1 CA2244109 A1 CA 2244109A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
led
reverse osmosis
osmosis filter
permeate
water
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA 2244109
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French (fr)
Inventor
Veikko Jolkin
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Individual
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Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from FI960506A external-priority patent/FI960506A0/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2244109A1 publication Critical patent/CA2244109A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Abstract

Pasteurised whey is subjected to micro- or nanofiltration. The permeate is further treated with reverse osmosis and sterilised or pasteurised. The retentate is subjected to electrodialysis and the salty water formed is treated with micro- or nanofiltration. The salty water can be subjected to a precipitation step before the micro- or nanofiltration. The pure water that is a result of the treatment above can be reused as process water or drained to a recipient.

Description

r CA 02244109 1998 07-24 'PCT/ Fl 9 7 / O C 0 6 5 TheSwedish PatentO~ce1997 -09- 0 5 ?, PCr International ~rP~ tion J

METHOD TO TREAT WHEY

It is the object of this invention to provide a method to treat whey, and according to the said method the separated whey is led to a pasteurizing apparatus, from s there to a nano- and/or microfiltration unit, where~iom the retentate part of the whey is ll~rell~d to be further processed and the perrneate part is led elsewhere.

In the processes in foodstuff industry, waste water is created which is purified by leading it through nano- andlor microfilters. The whey that is created during the 10 processing of milk in the cheese industry is saliferous, and it is led to a filtration unit for desalination. The permeate flowing out of the filtration unit is also wa~ w~lel, because its salt content is high. Such wa~l~walel~ are discharged as sewage e.g. to an industrial or a municipal sewage treatment plant. The prices for water and wa~k;waler treatment are high, and great costs must be paid for large amounts of waslt:w~ler even if the wa~ walel~ were a1most clean.

The presently employed processes have an additional disadvantage: the potentially useful ingredients in the permeate are lost. In such cases, new corresponding ingredients may have to be bought for the process in order to replace the ingredients which were discharged as sewage along with the permeate. The recycling of the permeate back to the process does not at present necessarily yield satisfactory results, for the recycling may result in non-desired ingredients plugging the nanofiltration ~p~lus.

It is the objective of this invention to present a method which helps decrease the ~L~oulll of waslt;waLels and to utilize the perme~te and the ingredients therein. It is a further objective to present a method that can be re~ 1 and employed in a simple and profitable way. I he aim of the invention is also improve the presently employed tre~tment and purification methods, so as to make possible a closed system use water or to essentially lower costs of sewage tre~t~nent and of the use of water needed ~om outside the industrial plant.

The objective of this invention is attained ll~o~gll the method which is characterized by what is presented in the appended claims.

According to the invention, the perme~te is treated by leading it to an additional filter and by purifying it there. Thereafter, the permeate leaving the additionaI

AMENDED SHEET

.

-CA 02244109 1998-07-24 PCT/ Fl 9 7 / O G Q 6 5 2 1997 -09- u 5 reverse osmosis filter and/or to a second reverse osmosis filter and/or to a third reverse osmosis filter at a later stage of the process, so that the peremeate istreated by means of reverse osmosis filter(s) as to purify it, and that the reslllting technically/commercially clean water is mixed with confl~n~1ion water. By exploiting reverse osmosis, the salinity can be reduced ap~ro~liately. Thereafter, the permeate leaving the additional reverse osmosis filter(s) is clean in the technical sense of the word, and it can be lltili7e~1 at many various phases of the process e.g. for electrodialysis by leading it back to the process. Both the amount of ~l~;w~l~, and that of the water introduced to the process can be considerablylO reduced, which results in cost reduction. If, however, it is desired to lead the perme~te to the sewage system, it is sufficiently clean and it can be led directly into e.g. a ~Lel w~, at least if the possibly e~i~tin~ bacteria are elimin~te~ first.
From nanofiltration stage, kalium and the other valuable salts and other ingredients are aquired. In many cases, the lele~ e, e.g. sodium, acquired from s the additional reverse osmosis filter is useful in other processes and the amount of ~ngredients to be purchased that are necess~ry for the processes, can be reduced.
The invention can be used at least for purifying the wa~Lew~L~l~ resulting from foodstuff industry processes and, particularly, for purifying the wastewaters created in milk processing industry, especially in cheese production In an additional application of the invention, the permeate is sterilized by UV
light, thereby elimin~tin~ h~....rl.l ingredients and b~t~ This step already exists at many miLk proces~ing plants.

In a second additional application of the invention, the permeate is pasteurizedafter the additional reverse osmosis filtration. During the pasteurization, tempelaLu~cs ranging from 75~C to 90~C should plt;rel~bly be reached, thereby elimin~ting det~imental ingredients. This step already exists at many miLk processing plants. After cooling the ~esulting liquid can be further led to an 30 electrodialysis apparatus.

One importaIlt addition to the process is that con~lens~tion water is al)p~ iately mixed with the clean water emitted from the process. E.g. the electroconductivity values - originally about 300 microS - are considerably improved when the clean water emitted ~om the process is mixed with con.3enC~tion water whose electroconductivity may be in the range of about lO microS T~ereby, water fi~1fillin~ even strict el~vi~ ....ent~1 safety requirements is obtained, which can be AME'I\IGED SHEET
3 CA 02244109 1998-07-24 PCT/ Fl 9 7 / O O 0 6 5 directly discharged into waterways or led to a closed water system..

In the following, the invention is defined in more detail with reference to the attached drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a flow diagram showing a set of equipment for applying a method in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 is a flow diagram showing another set of equipment for applying a method in accordance with the invention, and Fig. 3 is a flow diagram showing a third set of equipment for applying a method o in accordance with the invention.

With reference now to Fig. 1, an example of one process covered by the application is presented. Complying with this method, the saliferous, sepal;ll~dwhey is cooled to a le~ t; under 10~ C, preferably to about 6~C, and the feed is further led from the process to storage tanlc 1, where from it is led topasteurizing unit 2. In the pasteurizing unit the whey is pasteurized to e~ s ranging from 70~C to 80~C, preferably to roughly 75~C, wh~leaner it is cooled to 15 - 25~C, l,lt;rel~ly to a lt;ll~ ; of about 20~C. The saliferous whey is further led to filtration unit 3, which can be either a nano- or a microfiltration unit, but l,lt;fel~bly a nanofiltrarion unit. At this stage, the dry solids content of the permeate is approxirnately 0.3 - 0.5 per cent. The permeate (temperature about 15 - 25~C) which results after the filtration is further led to the additional reverse osmosis (RO) filt-.ting eq~npm~nt 4 which purifies the perm-o~te and produces commercially clean ~=clean in the technical sense of the word) water. As shown in the diagram, the perme~te derived from RO filter 4 is first treated by p~ g it in unit 6 and/or it is sterilized by UV irradiation in the W e~lipm~nt 5. Thereafter the pnrified and cooled pçrm~te can be led to water tanks 7, 8, where it can be stored and filr~er led to various processing or other uses, e.g. to an electrodialysis unit or possibly to the sewage system. The perme~te iS commercially clean water and the measured conductivity value is about 150 -300 microS. After filter 3, the perme~te may also be led to a separate tank for saliferous water where it is stored as long as desired. From the storage tank the perm~o~t~ can be reintroduced e.g. to the salt brine processin~ e.g. to electrodialysis. It is a preferred solution to mix 23 the clean water reslllting from 3s the process with condens~tion water. The con~1~n~tion water can be led directly to wale-wa~s or to a closed system.

M~DED SHEEl -b CA 02244109 1998-07-24 PCT/ Fl 9 7 / 0 0 0 6 5 With reference now to the application and example in Fig. 2, the tre~tment of the permeate is for the most part similar to that described above. In this application also the l~ltl-lale is being treated. The process already exists at meny miLk processing plant, yet without the reverse osmosis step. In this method, the ~ e flowing from iilter 3, its le~ e being about 20~C, is heated by heat t xc~n~r 9 to about 35~C-45~C, ~It;r~l~ly to reach a temperature of about 38~C.
The dry solids content of such a l~ qle is about 24 per cent. It should be mentioned that an evaporator may be used instead of a NF filter. Next, the retentate is ce~ ifilg~1i7ell by c~ iruge 10 so as to elimin~te crystals, and it is 10 then led to storage tank 11. Next, the ~ , i.e. whey is led to electrodialysis module 12, where it is des~lin~te~1 The salt content of the whey emitte~l out of this eqwpment depends on the performance of the des~lin~tion process. The whey is led away 24 and the resulting saliferous water (dIy solids content 1.1 - 1.3%) is led to intermediate tank 13 and cooled to reach a le~ )el~lu~e of about 20~C, 5 whereafter it is led to micro- and/or nanofiltration module 14, ~lert;l~bly nanofiltration is used. The dry solids content of the perme~te is now about 0.3 -0.5 %, and the perme~t~ is further led to reverse osmosis (RO) filter 15 . The total number of reverse osmosis filters to be used in the process can be one or more depçn.1in~ on the desired performance level and amount of permeate to be treated.
Thereafter the permeate is led - as described above - after l)a~ a~ion andlor UV irradiation to storage tanks 7, 8, where also condensation water may be led.

In an :~11r~ e process, the p~ e is led direcdy from NF 3 to RO filter 4 and fùrther to storage tanks 7,8 after pasteurization and/or UV-irradiation. Cooling may be necessary.

In the third application and example of the invention the flow of the process ismosdy similar to the example referred to in Fig. 2. In this application the brine (=saliferous water) is led from intermediate storage tank 13 to precipitation tank 30 16 where it is precil~haled by adding sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and saLiferous mother liquid. The resnlting solution is C~ irl~g~ e~1 by cent~ ge 17, and the resulting solution is led to intermediate tank 18, while the resulting calcium phos~ deposit is led to tank 19. From tank 18 the solution is led to nanofilter 21, wllw~ JIll the resulting pe~n~o~t~ is led to additional reverse osmosis filtOE 22 and filrther in the m~nner described earlier. With such a procedure the calcium and the phosphate can be recovered and the amount of precipil~ lg ingredients is reduced, thereby not fouling NF 21 and thus improving its performance and the AMENDED SHEEI

CA 02244109 1998-07-24 Pcr/ Fl 9 7 / O O 0 6 5 '1997 -09- 0 5 1, elimin~tion of phosphorus; most of the phosphorus from permeate is discarded together with the deposit during centrifil~li7~tion.

The invention is not restricted to ~e plt;rell~;d applications presented here; it may s vary within the general framework and inventional idea incorporated in the following claims.

AMENDED SHEEl-

Claims (8)

CLAIMS:
1. A method for treating whey in the field of milk processing industry and in particularly in cheese production, in which method the separated whey is led to pasteurizing unit (1), from the pasteurizing unit to nano- and/or microfiltration unit (2), from where the retentate of the whey is transferred to further processing and the permeate is led elsewhere, characterized in that the permeate is led to additional reverse osmosis filter (4) and/or to a second reverse osmosis filter (15) and/or to a third reverse osmosis filter (22) at later stage of the process, so that the permeate is treated by means of reverse osmosis filter(s) as to purify it, and that the resulting technically/commercially clean water is mixed with condensation water.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the permeate is sterilized by UV light (5) after the additional reverse osmosis filter (4) and/or the additional reverse osmosis filter (15) and/or the additional reverse osmosis filter (22).
3. A method as claimed in claims 1 and/or 2, characterized in that the permeate is pasteurized (6) after the additional reverse osmosis filter (4) and/or the additional reverse osmosis filter (15) and/or the additional reverse osmosis filter (22).
4. A method as claimed in one or several of claims 1 to 3, characterized in thatthe permeate is led to water tanks (7,8) and further into process use.
5. A method as claimed in one or several of claims 1 to 4, where the retentate part of the whey is led from the nano- and/or microfiltration unit (3) to a heat exchanger, is heated by heat exchanger (9), and it is centrifugalized by centrifuge (10) and then led to storage (11), characterized in that the retentate is led from the storage to electrodialysis unit (12), where it is treated by electrodialysis so as to reduce the salinity of the whey, and the saliferous water is led through intermediate tank (13) to nano- and/or microfilter unit (14), preferably to a nanofilter unit, and from there to reverse osmosis filter (15).
6. A method as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the saliferous water isled from intermediate tank (13) to precipitation tank (16), where it is precipitated by adding sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and the resulting solution is centrifugalizedby centrifuge (17), and the resulting solution is led to intermediate tank (18) while the resulting calcium phosphate deposit is led to another tank (19).
7. A method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that from the intermediate tank (18) the solution is led to nano- or microfiltration unit (21), and the resulting permeate is led to additional reverse osmosis filter (22), the resulting clean water is led to electrodialysis unit (12), which allows for the development of a closed circuit system..
8. A method as claimed in one or several of claims 1 to 7, characterized in thatthe clean water derived from the process is mixed (23) with condensation water, thereby producing water compatible with environmental requirements which can be discharged directly into waterways or led to a closed system.
CA 2244109 1996-02-05 1997-02-05 Method to treat whey Abandoned CA2244109A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FI960506 1996-02-05
FI960506A FI960506A0 (en) 1996-02-05 1996-02-05 Foerfarande Foer behandling av avfallsvatten
PCT/FI1997/000065 WO1997028890A1 (en) 1996-02-05 1997-02-05 Method to treat whey

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CA2244109A1 true CA2244109A1 (en) 1997-08-14

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN106242145A (en) * 2016-08-26 2016-12-21 刘永锋 A kind of desulfurization wastewater reverse osmosis reconcentration device
CN106348510A (en) * 2016-08-26 2017-01-25 刘永锋 Thermal power plant desulfurization wastewater electrodialysis reconcentrator
WO2017142494A1 (en) * 2016-02-15 2017-08-24 Gebze Teknik Universitesi A method for high volume recovery of process- water and economic product acquisition from whey
CN113072237A (en) * 2021-05-07 2021-07-06 广州凯膜过滤设备有限公司 Device and method for recycling heat energy of pasteurized heat sterilization drainage water and recycling pure water

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2017142494A1 (en) * 2016-02-15 2017-08-24 Gebze Teknik Universitesi A method for high volume recovery of process- water and economic product acquisition from whey
CN106242145A (en) * 2016-08-26 2016-12-21 刘永锋 A kind of desulfurization wastewater reverse osmosis reconcentration device
CN106348510A (en) * 2016-08-26 2017-01-25 刘永锋 Thermal power plant desulfurization wastewater electrodialysis reconcentrator
CN113072237A (en) * 2021-05-07 2021-07-06 广州凯膜过滤设备有限公司 Device and method for recycling heat energy of pasteurized heat sterilization drainage water and recycling pure water

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