摘要
The feasibility of using ultrafiltration (UF) to recover protein from poultry processing wastewater (PPW) after primary treatment was investigated. By using polysulfone membrane with 30,000 molecular-weight-cut-off, almost all crude proteins in PPW were retained, subsequently reducing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the effluent to less than 200 mg L -1 . Similar to the processing of proteinaceous materials, the average fluxes reached only 100 L m -2 h -1 . By identifying the optimal values of key operation parameters, including pH, volumetric flow rate, and transmembrane pressure (6.74, 683 mL min -1 and 14 psi, respectively) using response surface methodology (RSM), the flux was improved to higher than 200 L m -2 h -1 . Although severe membrane fouling was still inevitable after processing, flushing the membrane with a cleaning reagent was found capable of effectively restoring membrane performance. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.