Soy whey is a major waste stream from the production of soy protein isolate, which accounts for about 30% of the raw material of soy protein isolate production. A process that recovers a potentially valuable protein product from this waste stream using nanofiltration has been developed and partially scaled up. This process has the additional benefit of creating a clean water stream that can be recycled into the isolate process, which could substantially reduce the water required for one of the most water-intensive processes in DuPont. Fouling of the nanofiltration membranes occurred during plant scale trials, something which was not experienced during pilot scale development of this process. The CIP protocol developed at pilot scale was not capable of maintaining membrane performance at plant scale, which now presents itself as a major technical hurdle to commercialization. To address this, a single-membrane NF unit was installed and operated in a production plant to study the fouling phenomena. Fouling rates, retentate composition, and analysis of foulants were studied to direct additional research into CIP and operating parameters. This research highlights the criticality of conducting plant scale trials prior to committing resources to achieve full commercial scale production.
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