Whey Demineralization & Concentration

Whey demineralization makes whey products more suitable for human consumption by removing ionic impurities. The process removes salts such as sodium chloride and other monovalent salts from the whey feed, improving edible product quality and finished product yield.

Nanofiltration membrane allows water and monovalent ions such as sodium chloride to pass through, while retaining and concentrating organic constituents. Using NF for this duty lowers the load on downstream systems that would otherwise need to treat the full salt content, reducing operating costs, and demineralized whey reduces evaporator fouling caused by monovalent salts.

How It Works

Whey feed is passed across a nanofiltration membrane. Water and monovalent salts such as sodium chloride pass through as permeate, while organic constituents and larger molecules are retained and concentrated on the retentate side.

Because the membrane targets monovalent salts specifically rather than removing water indiscriminately, the process achieves partial demineralization while also reducing the volume that needs to reach the evaporator, cutting evaporator capacity requirements and the energy that goes with it.

System Benefits