Chapter 6: Milk and Dairy Processes

 Milk collection, storage, transport, and reception

 Centrifugation
 Standardization
 Homogenization
 Heat treatment
 Coagulation of caseins
 Concentration processes
 Cooling and freezing
 Packaging

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 Milk collection
● Hand milking

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 Milk collection
● Machine milking

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 Milk collection
■ Milking robot: automatic milking

Works 24/24
Automatic rinsing, sanitizing, milking, control of
individual quater …
Automatic identification of the cow and registration of
milking time, milk volume …
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Automatic (phone) alarm
 Milk cooling/storage
Milk must be chilled to 4°C or below as soon as it
leaves the cow!
■ Water tank
Cans are immersed in water up to their necks
Water should be refreshed continuously
Best results with ice water

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 Milk cooling/storage
■ Cooling rings
A perforated tubular ring is put over the neck of a milk
can
Water sprays over the surface
If a cold (ice-)water tank is used, water can be
recirculated

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 Milk cooling/storage
■ Immersion coolers
Bent tubes are immersed in the warm milk; the cooling
agent circulates through the tubes
Suitable for small milk quantities

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 Milk cooling/storage
■ Indirect systems: ice water jacket

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 Milk cooling/storage
■ Indirect systems: ice water jacket

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Milk cooling/storage

Source: Tetra Pak

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 Milk transport
Milk in churns

Bulk collection:
Milk in cooling
tanks 11
Milk reception

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 Milk reception
■ For tank reception, the milk is measured by
volume with a flowmeter and a built-in air eliminator to
remove air
Weight by the difference

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 Storage at the factory
■ Cooling to T<4°C
■ Raw milk storage in silo tanks
Capacity: 25000-150000 L
Mostly double wall construction
Gentle agitation is required: to avoid creaming, but
should not be too violent (causes aeration, fat globule
disintegration)
Level indicator
T-indication
Low level protection
Overflow protection
Empty tank indication

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 Milk reception
● At delivery, a sample is taken per tanker
● After a quick control, the tanker is unloaded
● The milk is cooled over a plate heat exchanger and
pumped into storage tanks
● After each collection, the tanker is cleaned and
disinfected by a CIP (clean-in place) system
● In some cases the milk is collected via a collecting
station and transferred to the processing industry
● For a temporary stabilization, a thermisation (60-
65°C, 10-20s) can be applied -> Temporarily
inhibition of bacterial growth
● Some regular tests that are performed include
freezing point depression, presence of antibiotics,
fat content 15
 Milk reception
Typical specifications for tanker milk supplies

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 Common adulteration
● Adding water to increase the quantity of milk
delivered
● Adding an alkali to reduce the acidity of the milk
with the intention to mislead with regard to its
freshness.
● Skimming off a portion of the cream layer and
retain it for domestic purposes.
Results of fat, titratable acidity and density tests may
give strong indications of fraudulent behavior by the
milk supplier.
● Adding melamine

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 Common adulteration
Possible tests
If a lower than normal fat test is obtained combined with
a high (1035 kg/m³) density then milk skimming should
be suspected.
If a lower than normal fat test is obtained combined with
a low (1020 kg/m³) density then the addition of water
should be suspected.
A lower than normal titratable acidity, e.g. 0.10% lactic
acid suggests the addition of an alkali such as sodium
hydroxide or sodium bicarbonate.

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 Chapter 6: Milk and Dairy Processes
 Milk collection, storage, transport, and reception
 Centrifugation
 Standardization
 Homogenization
 Heat treatment
 Coagulation of caseins
 Concentration processes
 Cooling and freezing
 Packaging

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 Centrifugation
● To obtain skimmed milk and cream: the two
fractions can be mixed together later on to a
desired fat content
● To remove the visible dirt
● To remove bacterial spores (bactofugation)

Velocity of centrifugal creaming

– Z = centrifugal constant
– R = radius of the orbital path (m)
– n = number of revolutions per minute (rpm)
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 Types of centrifuges
Tubular-bowl centrifuge

Disc-bowl centrifuge

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 Types of centrifuges (separators)
An industrial disc-bowl centrifuge

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 Centrifugation parameters
● Decreaming of milk is largely dependent on
temperature
● Usually decreaming is carried out at elevated
temperatures (decreased viscosity, increased
density difference)
● The optimal decreaming temperature is 45 to 55°C
Elevated temperature has also defects, e.g. an increased
risk of precipitation on the apparatus

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 Performance of a separator
● Is judged by the residual fat content of the
separated milk or by the degree of cream
separation from the whole milk
● The degree of cream separation is defined as:

● E is determined by different factors:

functioning of the separator
Temperature
presence of gasses
the season;
quality of the raw milk, especially the amount of free
fatty acids
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 The Bactofuge
Remove bacteria spores (high
thermo-resistant) efficiently from
products (density difference) that
are low-pasteurized
Bactofugation is by no means
equivalent to sterilization: the
product still contains heat-resistant
bacteria and a small number of
spores.
May give pasteurized beverage milk
a longer shelf life or to obtain
cheese that is not subject to the
defect of late blowing, without
inducing unfavorable changes in the
milk. 25
 Chapter 6: Milk and Dairy Processes
 Milk collection, storage, transport, and reception
 Centrifugation
 Standardization
 Homogenization
 Heat treatment
 Coagulation of caseins
 Concentration processes
 Cooling and freezing
 Packaging

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 Standardization
Process of fat standardization

Continuous standardization can be achieved by means of

pipe and valve connections
A part of the cream flow is led into the separated milk,
so that the desired fat content is obtained

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 Standardization
Direct automated standardization of milk and cream

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 Chapter 6: Milk and Dairy Processes
 Milk collection, storage, transport, and reception
 Centrifugation
 Standardization
 Homogenization
 Heat treatment
 Coagulation of caseins
 Concentration processes
 Cooling and freezing
 Packaging

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 Homogenization
● Is used principally to prevent or delay the
formation of a cream layer in full cream milk
● A reduction in the size of the fat globules: at least
a 10-fold increase in the fat globule area
● As a result the stability of the emulsion is
improved
● Applications: consumption milk, cream, for
condensed milk, ice cream mixes, milk for yogurt
production, milk for powder production

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 Principle
● Homogenization divides globules into smaller
ones with diameters down to < 1 m, depending
on the pressure
● Done by forcing all of the milk at high pressures
through a narrow slit, which is only slightly larger
than the diameter of the globules themselves
● The velocity in the narrowest slit can be 100 to 250
m/s
● This causes high shearing stress, cavitation and
micro-turbulence
● Fat globules become deformed, then become
wavy and then break up

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Homogenizer

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Homogenizer

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 Construction of a homogenizer
120°phase shift of each working piston respectively,
sucks in the liquid while the valves open on their suction
side and are closed on their delivery side
pistons finally force the liquid through the homogenizer
valve when the valve positions are reversed
the required pressure can be regulated from outside by
pressure sorings while the machine is in operation
besides triple stage piston pumps, five-stage ones are
often used for homogenizing because of their even feed
characteristics
during two-stage homogenizing the pressure in the first
counts up to 15-20 MPa
to prevent clustering the liquid is submitted in the
second stage to a pressure of 2-4 MPa
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 Homogenization parameters
■ Pressure is the most important parameter
● Splitting of fat globules by homogenizing
● Pressure influence on homogenization degree:

log dva= const -0,6 log P

dva= average diameter
P = homogenization pressure

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 Homogenization parameters
■ Pressure is the most important parameter

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 Homogenization parameters
■ The type of homogenizer valves is very determinant
conical valve face and seat;
milled valve face and seat;
smooth seat and hollow valve seat
conical seat and grooved valve face

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 Homogenization parameters
■ The temperature has different effects
by lowering the viscosity, turbulence increases
the fluidibility of the fat plays an important role
Normally, homogenization is executed at 50 to 70°C.

■ The ratio fat to surface active material determines also

the degree of homogenization
for the homogenization of whole milk, there is normally
enough protein present
for fat-rich products, the amount of proteins is a limiting
factor; as a result, the fat globules can aggregate to
clusters

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 Effects of homogenization
■ Homogenization causes a change in following
properties :
fat globule diameter
clustering is directly proportional to pressure and fat
content, and inversely proportional to fat-free dry matter
creaming is strongly reduced
the thickness of the membrane increases with an
increasing homogenization pressure (±15 nm in
homogenized milk)
heat stability decreases with increasing homogenization
The milk becomes white

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 Effects of homogenization
■ During homogenization the original membrane is
destroyed
The first result is a rise in interfacial tension
Surface active agents form a new membrane by
adsorption so that the interfacial tension soon falls
again
The new emulsion therefore remains stable even after
homogenization
The new membrane consists mainly of casein, the
proportion of phosphatides having decreased

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 Refs
Dewettinck, K. , A. Huyghebaert and R. Rombaut. Milk and
Dairy Technology. Course note 2004-2005. Ghent University
Walstra P. Dairy Science and Technology, Second Edition, CRC
2006
Tetra Pak. Dairy processing handbook. 1995
Various photos from internet

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