Liquid milk & cream production in the food & beverage industry

Milk is brought to the dairy for processing, either direct from the farm, or from a collection centre. Formerly, when dairies were small, collection was confined to nearby farms. The micro-organisms in the milk could be kept under control with a minimum of chilling, as the distances were short and the milk was collected or delivered daily. Today the trend is towards progressively larger dairy units, to reduce costs without affecting the product quality. The raw milk arrives at the dairy in churns or in insulated road tankers, the latter being used only in combination with bulk cooling tanks at the farm. The requirements are the same for both methods – the milk must be kept well chilled, free from air, and treated as gently as possible.

Precise flow, temperature and level control in every stage of dairy processing is essential. KROHNE offers perfectly suitable devices for temperature with the fast, very precise OPTITEMP temperature sensors. Continuous and non-contact OPTIWAVE FMCW radar level measuring devices with a flush hygienic lens antenna can be used to measure tank and silo contents, even in the largest ones. OPTISWITCH level alarms can provide alternative technology safety alarms to prevent tank overfill and dry running pumps. OPTIMASS Coriolis mass flowmeters provide accurate mass flow readings where required, plus OPTIFLUX electromagnetic flowmeters measure volume flow for process control. Filters can be monitored using OPTIBAR DP pressure measurement cells: all equipment is supplied with suitable hygienic connections, are EHEDG and 3-A certified and meet the requirements of FDA and EC1935 / 2004.