Electrodialysis of model salt solution containing whey proteins: Enhancement by pulsed electric field and modified cell configuration

Recent work carried-out on conventional electrodialysis of model solutions containing whey proteins and/or salts (CaCl2, MgCl2) showed significant ion-exchange membrane foulings, one of the major problems of this process. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using pulsed electrical field in a new electrodialysis (ED) configuration to prevent the ion-exchange membrane fouling and to enhance the ED process. The main objectives of the present work were to test a new cell configuration and to study the effect of pulsed electrical field on fouling and electrodialytic parameters. The results obtained showed that a pulsed electrical field coupled to a separated feed of the concentrate compartments led to the higher demineralization rate (79.5%) without membrane fouling and excessive energy consumption compared to the other treatments. This study also showed that the pulsed electrical field applied in combination with the classical configuration decreased the mineral fouling observed in basic conditions (16% for Ca and 24% for Mg) and the protein fouling observed in acidic condition (decrease by 18%).