Removal of lactic acid from acid whey using electrodialysis

Abstract

The processing of acid whey, a by-product of cream cheese making, casein production and strained yogurt manufacture, has been a challenge in the dairy industry. The high lactic acid concentration causes operational problems in downstream spray drying operations due to increased powder stickiness. In this work, electrodialysis, a well proven demineralisation technology is used to remove the lactate ions from acid whey. If the ratio of lactic acid to lactose is to be reduced to the same level found in sweet whey, 80% of the lactate ions must be removed. For both laboratory prepared solutions and acid whey samples, the lactate ions were removed at a slower rate compared to other anions present ..