Abstract:Protein aggregation and recovery in surimi-rinsed wastewater under the influence of a low-voltage direct current (DC) electric field were investigated. As the electric field voltage, treatment time, initial temperature of the wastewater, and mass fraction of salt in the wastewater increase, the protein recovery rate significantly increases initially (P<0.05), but then tends to level off or decrease. Meanwhile, as the electrode spacing increases from 3 cm to 15 cm, the protein recovery rate significantly decreases (P<0.05). In addition, the turbidity reaches its minimum (0.16) when the electrode spacing is 3 cm. With the help of the Box-Behnken response surface methodology, the optimal parameters for protein recovery were determined using an electrode spacing of 3 cm. At the same time, a protein-recovery prediction model was established. The optimal parameters are as follows: an electric field treatment time of 34 minutes, electric field voltage of 55 V, initial wastewater temperature of 22 °C, and a salt mass fraction of 0.06%. Under these conditions, the protein recovery rate from the rinsed wastewater reaches 92.23%, significantly higher than that of the thermal coagulation treatment group (66.35%) (P<0.05). Furthermore, the chemical oxygen demand removal rate is 89.54%, approximately 1.81-fold that of the thermal coagulation treatment group (49.38%). The recovery performance of the electric field treatment group is significantly better than that of the thermal coagulation treatment group (P<0.05). In conclusion, low-voltage DC electric field treatment enhances the aggregation and recovery of protein in surimi-rinsed wastewater. This study provides new ideas for protein recovery from wastewater.