Abstract
It is well known that wastewaters from the food industry are a potential source of valuable compounds, such that these wastewaters may be considered by-products awaiting the development of appropriate treatment methodologies. Whey is one of the most important polluting effluents from the milk industry because of its very high biological oxygen demand (BOD). Nevertheless, whey is rich in by-products such as whey proteins and lactose, both of which are widely used industrially. Integrated processes could permit the selective recovery of these by-products in conjunction with the generation of clean, reusable water, thus reducing the environmental impact of this wastewater. Ultrafiltration is a crucial step in the separation and recovery of whey protein and lactose, but this technology suffers from fouling problems that can reduce its performance. New technologies assisted by smart modeling and control systems could improve this ultrafiltration step. In this work, a novel system that allows the recovery of the whey protein in milk industry effluent and the disposal of wastewater was developed and tested. This system utilizes an ultrafiltration process, as this permits the purification of the effluent at room temperature, ensuring the preservation of the recovered proteins. A specially designed autoadaptive fuzzy logic controller evaluates the level of filter membrane fouling and controls a mechanical device that induces filter regeneration. Experimental testing showed that this approach permits process intensification.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APAT (2007) Agenzia per la protezione dell’ambiente e per I servizi tecnici, disponibile on-line. http://www.apat.gov.it/site/_contentfiles/00147400/147413_estratto_rap_rifiuti_07.pdf
Berruga MI, Jaspe A, SanJose C (1997) Selection of yeast strains for lactose hydrolysis in dairy effluents. Int Biodeter Biodegrad 40:119–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0964-8305(97)00053-x
Carvalho F, Prazeres AR, Rivas J (2013) Cheese whey wastewater: characterization and treatment. Sci Total Environ 445–446:385–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.12.038
Cayot P, Lorient D (2017) Structure–function relationships of whey proteins (Chap. 8). In: Damodaran S, Paraf A (eds) Food proteins and their applications. Marcel Dekker, New York
Curcio S, Scilingo G, Calabró V, Iorio G (2004) Ultrafiltration of BSA in pulsating conditions: an artificial neural networks approch. J Membr Sci 246:235–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2004.09.004
Curcio S, Scilingo G, Calabró V, Iorio G (2006) Reduction and control of flux decline in cross-flow membrane processes modeled by artificial neural networks. J Membr Sci 286:125–132
Demirel B, Yenigun O, Turgut TO (2005) Anaerobic treatment of dairy wastewaters: a review. Process Biochem 40:2583–2595
Dornier M, Decloux M, Trystram G, Lebert A (1995) Dynamic modeling of crossflow microfiltration using neural networks. J Membr Sci 98(3):263–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/0376-7388(94)00195-5
FAOSTAT (2009) Livestock processed (database). http://www.fao.org/3/a-i0680e.pdf
Federalimentare (2016) Annual report 2016. Federalimentare, Rome
Fiat AM, Jolles P (1989) Casein of various origins and biologically active casein peptides and oligosaccharides: structural and physiological aspects. Mol Cell Biochem 87:5–30
Formato A, Guida D, Ianniello D, Villecco F, Lenza TLL, Pellegrino A (2018) Design of delivery valve for hydraulic pumps. Machines 6(4):44
Formato A, Ianniello D, Romano R, Pellegrino A, Villecco F (2019a) Design and development of a new press for grape marc. Machines 7:51
Formato G, Romano R, Formato A, Sorvari J, Koiranen T, Pellegrino A, Villecco F (2019b) Fluid-structure interaction modeling applied to peristaltic pump flow simulations. Machines 7:50
Formato A, Ianniello D, Pellegrino A, Villecco F (2019c) Vibration-based experimental identification of the elastic moduli using plate specimens of the olive tree. Machines 7:46
Ghaly AE, Singh RK (1988) Pollution potential reduction of cheese whey through yeast fermentation. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 22:181–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02921744
Gibson R, Wang X (1994) Regulatory effects of bifidobacteria on the growth of other colonic bacteria. J Appl Microbiol 77:412–420
Gonzales Siso MI (1996) The biotechnological utilization of cheese whey: a review. Biores Technol 57:1–11
Il Ministero della Giustizia (2006) Norme in materia ambientale. Decreto Legislativo 3 aprile 2006, n. 152. Gazzetta Ufficiale 88 (14 Apr 2006), Supplemento Ordinario n. 96. Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome
ISTAT (2009) Materie prime raccolte e prodotti ottenuti dall’industria lattiero-casearia. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Rome
Janczukowicz W, Zielinski M, Debowski M (2008) Biodegradability evaluation of dairy effluents originated in selected sections of dairy production. Biores Technol 99:4199–4205
Kamble SJ, Singh A, Kharat MG (2017) A hybrid life cycle assessment based fuzzy multi-criteria decision making approach for evaluation and selection of an appropriate municipal wastewater treatment technology. Eur Mediterr J Environ Integr 2:9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-017-0019-8
Mulder M (1996) Basic principles of membrane technology. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht
Panesar PS, Kennedy JF, Gandhi DN, Bunko K (2007) Bioutilisation of whey for lactic acid production. Food Chem 105(1):1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.03.035
Pellegrino A, Villecco F (2010) Design optimization of a natural gas substation with intensification of the energy cycle. Math Probl Eng 10:294102. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/294102
Pereira Nunes S (2007) Organic-inorganic membranes for gas separation. Ann Chim-Sci Mat 32:119–126
Pizzichini M (2006) Tecnologia di processo per la valorizzazione delle componenti del siero di latte. Editorial ENEA, Rome
Pizzichini M, Montani R, Ruscio F (2001) Il siero di latte: da rifiuto zootecnico a materia per alimenti e farmaci. L’Informatore Agrario 16:49–53
Saraceno A, Curcio S, Calabrò V, Iorio G (2010) A hybrid neural approach to model batch fermentation of “ricotta cheese whey” to ethanol. Comput Chem Eng 28:739–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2009.11.010
Sena P, Attianese P, Carbone F, Pinto A, Villecco F (2012) A fuzzy model to interpret data of drive performances from patients with sleep deprivation. Comput Math Methods Med 2012:868410. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/868410
Sena P, D’Amore M, Pappalardo M, Pellegrino A, Fiorentino A, Villecco F (2013a) Studying the influence of cognitive load on driver’s performances by a fuzzy analysis of lane keeping in a drive simulation. IFAC Proc 46(21):151–156
Sena P, Attianese P, Pappalardo M, Villecco F (2013b) FIDELITY: fuzzy inferential diagnostic engine for on-LIne supporT to phYsicians. In: Proc 4th Int Conf on the Development of Biomedical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 8–10 Jan 2012, pp 396–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32183-2_95
Slavov AK (2017) General characteristics and treatment possibilities of dairy wastewater—a review. Food Technol Biotechnol 55(1):14–28. https://doi.org/10.17113/ftb.55.01.17.4520
Sodini I, Mattas J, Tong PS (2006) Influence of pH heat treatment of whey protein concentrates in yogurt. Int Dairy J 16:1464–1469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2005.03.014
Song L (1998) Flux decline in cross-flow microfiltration and ultrafiltration: mechanism and modeling membrane fouling. J Membr Sci 139:183–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0376-7388(97)00263-9
Tomomatsu H (1994) Health effects of oligosaccharides. Food Technol 48:61–65
Villecco F (2018) On the evaluation of errors in the virtual design of mechanical systems. Machines 6(3):36
Xi X, Cui Y, Wang Z, Qian J, Wang J, Yang L, Zhao S (2011) Study of dead-end microfiltration features in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) by optimized neural networks. Desalination 272(1–3):27–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2010.12.049
Ylsay TO, Ylmaz L, Bayzit AA (2006) The effect of using a whey protein fat replacer on textural and sensory characteristics of low-fat vanilla ice-cream. Eur Food Res Technol 222:171–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-005-0018-x
Zhai Y, Liu L, Lu W, Li Y, Yang S, Villecco F (2010) The application of disturbance observer to propulsion control of sub-mini underwater robot. Lect Notes Comput Sci 6016:590–598. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12156-2_44
Funding
FARB, University of Salerno, Italy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Communicated by Sudip Chakraborty, Chief Editor.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Villecco, F., Aquino, R.P., Calabrò, V. et al. Fuzzy-assisted ultrafiltration of whey by-products recovery. Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr 5, 8 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-019-0138-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-019-0138-5