This research is a collaborative project between Water Future, Looop, and MNEXT to address the valorisation of a residual stream that remain after valorisation of whey towards food and feed applications: whey permeate. This permeate is a high-volume but low-quality stream, which is currently used as a filler for mainly animal feed, but with the large amounts produced in NW-Europe it is essential to valorise whey permeate higher in the value chain, for example into a biobased resource which replace fossil-based resources in the chemical industry. To accomplish this, pre-processing steps are necessary to remove minerals. Electrodialysis (ED) can remove unwanted minerals from whey permeate by applying an electric field across its membranes. Using ED, whey permeate is expected to demineralize into a liquid which is suitable for application as biobased resource for various applications. Moreover, the extracted mineral stream can also be reused.
This one-year project aims to quantify and optimize the demineralisation of whey permeates using a lab-scale ED setup to make the whey permeate stream suitable for re-use and thus reduce the environmental impact of this stream. The project involves setting up an ED setup provided by Water Future to treat whey permeates supplied by Looop, assessing the suitability of treated permeate as a biobased resource in the chemical industry and processing the produced mineral streams into new biobased resources. The result of this research will demonstrate the use of ED as a valorisation technique for whey permeates and the integration of multiple processes into a valorisation pathway to transform costly whey permeates into value-added products. MNEXT leads the research development, aiming to potentially establish a recycle strategy for resource recovery in the dairy industry. The results will be presented through educational activities, reports, digital platforms, and conferences to transfer knowledge to a broader audience.