A theoretical approach to dairy products from membrane processes

Abstract

Milk is a food rich in nutrients and requires processing that promotes its conservation, such as concentration. The membrane process, as an emerging technology and lower energy consumption, has been applied to concentrate, purify, and adapt milk for fluid consumption or derivatives. The Microfiltration, Ultrafiltration, Nanofiltration, and Reverse Osmosis processes have already been applied to milk and the biggest challenge is in controlling phenomena such as fouling, and polarization influenced by the system's operating conditions. The membrane process has already been used in the production of cheese, ricotta, protein concentrates, powdered milk, and dairy beverages.

Wastewater Treatment in the Dairy Industry from Classical Treatment to Promising Technologies: An Overview

“…The membrane separation process depends on the nature of the membrane, which divides the liquid into two parts, the permeate part and the retentate part, making it a good instrument for separation, concentration, and purification. The membranes' morphology can be classified according to their porosity, density, symmetries, and asymmetries [60]. Dead end and cross-flow are the typical types of membrane operations.…”

“…Typically, membranes are categorized according to the average size of their pores. Dense membranes are those in which the transport of components entails a stage of dissolution and diffusion over the membrane material [60]. The transmembrane pressure is the driving force behind these membrane processes (TMP).…”

“…The typical TMP ranges between 0.03 and 0.20 MPa [68]. As one of the dairy applications of this process is the retention of bacteria and spores, it is necessary to control the size of the membrane pores, which should be small enough to retain microorganisms without compromising the composition of the permeated milk [60,66,69]. Introduced were commercial ceramic membranes and the idea of uniform transmembrane pressure (UTP) for regulating hydrodynamics and fouling during membrane filtration (MF) of dairy fluids.…”

Modeling of Organic Fouling in an Ultrafiltration Cell Using Different Three-Dimensional Printed Turbulence Promoters

“…They have several advantages compared to other conventional methods, such as a high compactness, a small footprint, and superior permeate quality with a high recovery ratio [ 4 ]. Considering the highly variable pore size of commercially available UF and nanofiltration membranes, they have great potential to remove particles, contaminants, bacteria, and pathogens, thus improving the overall quality of water [ 5 , 6 ].…”