Protein Recovery from Sweet Potato Starch Wastewater by Foam Separation

In this study, an inclined foam separation column was designed to effectively recover protein from sweet potato starch wastewater. The effects of the influent protein concentration, pH, air flow rate, influent volume, foaming time, and inclined column angle on foam separation performance were assessed. The optimum foam separation conditions consisted of influent protein concentration 4.51 mg/mL, pH 4, air flow rate 0.15 mL/min, influent volume 500 mL, foaming time 100 min, and inclined column angle 30°. In these conditions, protein recovery percentage and enrichment ratios were 84.1% and 1.3, respectively. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) and chemical oxygen demand (COD_Cr) of the residual solution (620 and 950 mg/mL, respectively) were lower than those of the original (influent) solution.