摘要：The treatment of dairy wastewater which conforms to environmental regulations is a crucial problem due to its high biological oxygen demand (BOD). The main cause of the BOD in dairy wastewater is due to residual whey which consists mainly of lactose. Recovery of lactose from the whey would solve the problems of whey utilization as well as pollution reduction as lactose recovery itself can reduce the BOD of whey by > 80%. In the present study, the recovery of lactose from partially deproteinated whey by the use of an anti-solvent (acetone) was investigated. Process parameters, such as acetone concentration (65–85% v/v), time (1–3 h), stirring speed (500–1000 rpm), seeding (1–3% w/w) and pH, were varied. The results suggest that > 90% of lactose was recovered from whey after 1 h of stirring at an acetone concentration of 85% v/v. The crystal size distribution of the lactose recovered from whey was estimated by image analysis and found to be affected by crystallization time as well as seeding.
