Operations and Activities of

Milk Plants and Energy

Consumption

Dr. Akepati S. Reddy

Head, Dept. Analytical Services, TCIRD
Assist. Prof., DBTES, Thapar University
Patiala (PUNJAB) – 147 004
 Flavoured milk Raw milk

Condensed milk Pasteurization Sweet whey

Yogurt Cheese
Milk powder Cream separation

Processed Skimmed
cream products Cream Skimmed milk milk powder
Butter milk Low-fat milk
Processed Butter Casein
butter
Ghee Whey

Whey permeate Whey protein

concentrate
Milk minerals

Lactose

Lactose
Mother liquor

Milk Plants and Dairy Products

 Milk Plant Processes
Core processes
• Process the input milk into different products

Supporting processes
• Boiler and steam distribution system
• Electrical power system and DG sets
• Chilled water plant and circulating chilled water system
• Compressed air and instrumental air system
• Cooling tower and circulating cooling water
• Water pumping, storage and supply system
• Soft water plant or RO water plant or DM water plant
• Lighting, ventilation and space heating and cooling
• Effluent treatment plant
 Core Processes
• Unloading, quality checking, chilling and storing of the received
milk
• Cream separation and handling of the separated milk sludge
• Pasteurization of milk, skimmed milk and even the separated
cream
• Processing for consumption as milk, flavoured milk, skimmed
milk and also as low-fat milk
• Processing of milk and skimmed into milk powder
• Processing cream into cream based products
• Churning the cream, making butter and processing (washing,
salting etc.) of butter
• Butter melting, ghee boiling and ghee clarification
• Butter milk processing (may be into butter milk powder)
• Processing serum and ghee residue for fat recovery and then
handling and disposal
 Core Processes
• Heating and curding of whole milk or skimmed milk
– Renin or acid dosing is required
• Separation and washing (including dewatering) of curd
– When made from whole milk is supplied as cheese or
yogurt after desired level of curing/aging
– Washed and dewatered curd in case of skimmed milk is
used to produce casein through drying, tampering, sorting,
milling, etc., operations
• Recovering the liquid portion of the whole milk or
skimmed milk as sweet whey or whey
– May be processed into product or disposed as waste
– Used as raw material for the manufacture of milk minerals,
whey protein concentrate and/or lactose
 Core Processes
• Ultra-filtration of whey to separate into whey permeate
and whey protein concentrate
• Permeate is preheated and milk minerals are
precipitated with alkali
• Precipitated milk minerals (mineral sludge) is hot wash-
dewatered and dried (in tray driers)
• Permeate is concentrated (in multiple effect evaporator)
and lactose is recovered from it through crystallization
• Retentate (whey protein concentrate) is concentrated (in
multiple effect evaporator) and dried (in spray drier) to
produce whey protein concentrate
 Core Processes
Evaporative concentration of product
• Multiple effect evaporators are used
– Either mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) loop or
thermal vapour recompression (TVR) loop or combination
of the two
• Pumping of product through the multiple effect evaporators
• Product is preheated in PHEs and tubular heat exchangers
prior to loading to the effects
– Hot foul condensates and vapours are used
• Effect for superheating and concentrating through flashing
– Steam or foul vapours are used
 Core Processes
• Surface condensers for condensing and removing foul
vapours from last effect of the loop
– Circulating cooling water is used
• Mechanical vapour recompressor for replacing the
surface condensor and efficient use of heat
– Electrical energy is used
• Steam ejectors for driving out the non-condensable
gases
– Super heated steam and cooling water are used
Alternatively vacuum pump for driving out the non-
condensable gases - electrical power is used
 Condensate from MVRs

Balancing Plate heat

tank pump exchnager
Vapours-2 Condensate
to drain
Product
To concentrate Tubular
preheater-2
Non-condensable gases (NCG)
to surface condenser

Tubular
preheater-1 steam

NCG Makeup
lub oil
Cooling water
Effect-1 Vapour MVR-2
separator
NCG Lub. oil Steam for
tank Gland sealing
Effect-2
Section-1 condensate
MVR-1
Condensate
to drain Lub. oil Steam for
Effect-2 Vapour tank Gland sealing
Section-2 separator Makeup
lub oil condensate
Gland
Gland cooling water cooling
concentrated Effect-2 to various pumps
product to Section-3 water tank
balancing tank
Excess water
overflows
 Balancing Effect-3 Vapour
tank separator
Foul
condensate
Product
To concentrate Tubular NCG
Preheater-4

Tubular NCG Surface Steam

NCG Preheater-1 Condenser-2 ejector
Super heated
steam cooling condensate steam
water
Effect-1
Section-1 Steam and Steam Surface
Vapour ejected NCG ejector Condenser-1
separator
Effect-1
Section-2 condensate

Effect-2 steam
Concentrated Section-1
Product
Effect-2 Vapour
Section-2 separator

Product Effect-2
Balancing tank Section-3
 Core Processes
• Crystallization of lactose from concentrated whey permeate in
lactose crystallizer
• Separation of crystallized lactose from the mother liquor in a
decanter – lactose mother liquor is left behind
• Slurrying the separated lactose and washing and decanting to
obtain dewatered commercial grade lactose
• Dissolving commercial grade lactose in hot water, refining and
filtering for obtaining pharma grade lactose
• Recrystallizing the refined lactose solution and decanting to
obtain dewatered pharma grade lactose
• Drying the dewatered crystalline lactose, grinding and shifting
to obtain dry powdered lactose
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Heating, cooling, chilling and pasteurization of the milk
(skimmed milk, butter milk, etc.), intermediates (whey,
whey protien concentrate, whey permeate, etc.) and
products
• Mostly plate heat exchangers are used
– Hot water is produced through direct injection of steam in a
separate tank and circulated through the PHE as heating
medium
– Circulating chilled water and/or cooling water is used as
chilling/cooling medium
• In case of tubular heat exchangers saturated steam is
used as heating medium
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Storage
• Milk, intermediates (skim milk, butter milk, cream, whey,
whey permeate, whey protein concentrate) and products
– Stored at refrigeration temperature
– Insulated tanks/silos or insulated tanks/silos with chilled
water jackets are used
– Storage tank contents are often circulated through a plate
heat exchanger for chilling with circulating chilled water
• Storage of products specially packaged milk, processed
butter, cream and cream products, cheese, etc.
– Deep freezers and refrigerators may be used
– Circulating chilling water may also be used for refrigerating
the storage space
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Pumping - processing involves
– Repeated pumping of stored product, preheating,
processing, chilling and again storing
– Pumping for circulating the stored product through PHE for
chilling
– Pumping for pressurizing and passing through ultra-
filtration units
– Pumping for circulating hot water between hot water tanks
and PHEs
– Pumping may also be associated with CIP in CIP
circulation loops
Uses electrical power
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Casein washing and dewatering
• Hot water is used (steam is injected into the water)
• Multistage counter-current washing involving both screening
removal of the curd and dewatering the product in decanters
is practiced
– Uses electrical power for dewatering in decanters
• Minimizes whey generation and subsequent energy
consumption in the evaporator
• Effective dewatering in a decanter in the final stage of
washing minimizes load on casein drier
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Product drier
• Blowers to supply air to the drier and to pneumatic
conveyance of the product
– uses electrical energy
• Blowers to exhaust hot humid air and the air used for product
conveyance
– uses electrical energy
• Radiator heater for heating the air prior to supply to the drier
– uses saturated dry steam
• Dehumidifier for cooling and drying the air for product
conveyance
– uses circulating cooling water
 Classifier Cyclone Blower hot humid exhaust
cum manifold separator vented into atmosphere

Mechanical
disintegrator
Rotary
valve
Rotary
Dewatered casein valve
Filter Conveyor air
air blower
Air Blower
steam Exhaust air to
atmosphere

Air Filter Bucket Radiator

medium filter heater Fluidized bed Cyclone
steam casein cooler separator Blower
Chilled water condensate

Blower Bucket De Air

Air filter humidifier conditioner

condensate Rotary
Chilled water
valve

Dried product
 steam condensate

Dewatered product Radiator Air Air

from decanter Primary drier air
heater blower filter

steam condensate

Secondary drier Radiator Sec. air Air air

heater blower filter
condensate steam
Roatary Dehumidifier Conveyor Air
valve & conditioner air blower filter air
chill water chill water Vent gases
Vent gases
Hot filter Exhaust
Bag house blower Exhaust Exhaust
Air for Vent gases blower blower
Air for
purging purging

Grinding mill Filter Filter

bag house Bag house
Recovered Recovered Air for
Vent gases product product purging

Exhaust Cold filter Lactose Shifter

blower Bag house silo
Poly-ply
lined bags
Air for
purging
Lactose packed
In ploy-ply bags Packing
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Radiator heaters
– Used for heating and supplying hot dry air to the driers (ring
dryers, spray driers, tray driers, etc.) for product drying
– Saturated dry steam is used for the heating
– Heating may be a multistage process
– Flash steam of one stage is used as heating in the previous
stage
Dehumidifiers
– Used for conditioning the air used for the pneumatic
conveyance of dry product
– Circulating chilled water is used for cooling, condensing and
removal of moisture and producing cool dry air
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Blowers and fans
• Blowers are extensively used for
– Supplying air for product drying in the driers
– Pneumatic conveyance of dried product
– venting out hot humid air from the driers
– Venting out the air used for conveying the product
Run on electrical power
• Fans are used in the ventilation systems for venting out
hot air from areas like ghee boiling and drier enclosures
Run on electrical power
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Other operations of energy consumption
• Cream separators – uses electrical power
• Cream churning and butter making – uses electrical power
• Butter melting – uses saturated dry steam
• Ghee boiling – uses saturated dry steam
• Serum and ghee residue processing for fat recovery –
alternatively uses both hot water and chilled water
• Heating of skimmed milk (both before and after curding) –
Plate heat exchangers and tubular heat exchangers are used
 Operations and Activities of Milk Plants
involving consumption of energy
Other operations of energy consumption
• Product cooling prior to finally dewatering the casein in a
decanter – circulating chilled water is indirectly used
• Whey clarification – powered by electrical energy
• Product grinding, sorting, shifting, etc. operations – needs
electrical energy
• Centrifugal wash dewatering of separated milk mineral sludge
– Both electrical power and hot water are needed
– Hot water is made through injecting steam into water
 Opportunities and Options for Energy
Conservation
Heating in PHEs for pasteurization and otherwise
– Avoiding water hammering associated hot water tank
overflows and heat loss
– Avoiding direct injection of steam for circulating hot water
generation
– Use of RAD-heat gas heating element in place of steam
Butter melting
– Shifting from direct steam injection heating to indirect
steam coil heating
Heating of milk prior to and during curding
– Replacing use of steam with waste heat energy in the form
of foul condensate
 Opportunities and Options for Energy
Conservation
Hot water for the washing of casein
– Replacing steam with steam condensate of radiator heaters
of driers or flash steam from the condensate for the heating
of casein wash water
Washwater use for casein washing
– Minimize washwater use to minimize evaporator loads
Steam condensate from the radiator heaters of the driers
– Recovery of flash steam and heat recovery prior to
collecting and conveying to the boiler house for use as
boiler feed water
Hot humid exhaust air from driers
– Waste heat recovery for pre-heating ambient air entering
the radiator heater
 Opportunities and Options for Energy
Conservation
Hot water for washing the milk mineral sludge
– Prior to supplying to the boiler house, use steam
condensate of radiator heaters as heating medium for
producing hot water
Foul condensate
– Segregate into less polluted and more polluted streams
– Recovery heat from the more polluted stream may be for
preheating milk prior to curding, then treat and supply to
boiler house as make up boiler feed water
– Reuse less polluted foul condensate as casein washwater
 Opportunities and Options for Energy
Conservation
• Decide about whether MVR loop or TVR loop or both for
the evaporative concentration
• Decide on whether vacuum pump or steam ejector for
handling the non-condensible gases
• Gradual cooling of lactose concentrate in crystallizer
– Use of circulating cooling water in place of chilled water in
the initial stages
• Hot water for dissolving lactose for refining
– Hot foul condensate in place of hot water generated
through using steam
 Supporting Processes
• Boiler and steam distribution system
• Electrical power system and DG sets
• Chilled water plant and circulating chilled water system
• Compressed air and instrumental air system
• Cooling tower and circulating cooling water
• Water pumping, storage and supply system
• Soft water plant or RO water plant or DM water plant
• Lighting, ventilation and space heating and cooling
• Effluent treatment plant
Direct use
for heating Flue gases
to stack
steam

Indirect use
For heating Combustion
Steam boiler air
Condensate Fuel
condensate

at steam traps
?? Condensate
drained out Boiler blowdown
Flue gases
or not collected
to stack
Pre-heater of
Condenstae Boiler feed
Boiler feed
tank Water tank
Water tank

Soft water/ Flue Gases

RO water/DM water from
thermopac boiler

Boiler and steam system

 rice husk larger size treated flue gases
received in Vibratory feeder foreign materials into atmosphere
tractors & trucks And dust through stack

Husk bunker ID fan

Saturated steam

feeding air boiler bed

material vent

Air External boiler flue gases Cyclone/

box furnace Fire tube boiler multiclone
sec. air
blowdown
flyash discarded flyash tank
bed material
Flyash Boiler feed Rotary valve
FD fan quenching water pumps (electrical motor
Operated)
blowdown water
to drain
process water vent
for quenching
air flyash
Bottom
Feed water tank Conditioning
chemiclas

Return soft water

condensate

Rice husk fired fire tube boiler

 Boiler and steam system
Energy is consumed in the boiler and steam system for
• Deaeration
• Boiler feed water pumping
• Condensate pumping
• Fuel processing – screening, pulverizing, preheating,
pumping, loading etc.
• FD fan and even primary air fan for supplying combustion air
• ID fan for pulling flue gases from boiler furance through
economizer, air pre-heater and APCD and for pushing through
the stack
• Powering the machinery associated with the APCD
 Electrical power system
Electrical power system
– Sources of power are grid power and captive power
from DG sets
– Important constituents of a power system are power
meters, LT and/or HT panels, capacitor banks,
transformers (and rectifiers), power cables and
distribution lines, etc.
– Electrical power is supplied to various points of use,
like drives, heating units, lighting systems, etc.
DG sets may require circulating cooling water
DG sets generate hot exhaust gases with energy value
Batteries are used both in operating the power panels
and in the startup of DG sets
 Air for Exhaust
combustion gases

Turbo charger
HSD Air for Exhaust
combustion gases

HSD day Oil Internal Generator/

tank pump Combustion alternator
chambers
Lube oil
Lube oil Lube oil
Engine oil
reservoir

Coolant oil Coolant oil

Coolant
Oil cooler

Cooling water Cooling water

Cooling
Makeup water tower

Cooling tower
blowdown
DG set
 Return chilled water

Heat
exchanger

Heat
exchanger

Heat
exchanger
Soft water Chilled
for makeup pump water
Ice bank tanks
Refrigerant Liquid
vapours refrigerant Consumptive
use

Refrigerant
Compressors
Condenser reservoir

Cooling water Cooling water

Chilled water plant and circulating chilled water system

 cooling water cooling water Compressed air
Intercooler
cooling
water
and instrumental air system
cooling fresh air
water
Stage-2 compressor Stage-1 Filter
compressn compressn
cooling cooling
water water
lube oil
cooling water waste oil

Precooler Moisture
separator

cooling water
cooling water

Electric Drier Aftercooler Moisture Direr

heater Tower-1 separator Tower-2

cooling water condensate

cooling Afterfilter
cooling
water water

Aftercooler compressn Filter Receiver

tank
lube oil compressor
fresh air compressed dry air
waste oil
 Circulating cooling water
Process Evaporation
Cooling losses
system
Consumptive use of Drift losses
cooling water
distributor
Process
Cooling
system Conditioning
Cooling
chemicals tower
Process sump
Cooling Pump(s)
system

Process Cooling tower

Makeup water Blowdown
Cooling
system
Leaks from circulating water

Cooling tower and circulating cooling water system

Electrical power for compressors
Circulating cooling water for condensers of chilled water
plant and for inter-coolers and after coolers of
compressed air systems
Electrical energy for heating associated with the
regeneration of driers
Pumps for pumping the circulating chilled water and cooling
water
Electrical energy for cooling tower fans
 Process water

Chlorinating chemical Chlorination

Water for backwashing Iron removal Backwash water

dechlorinating agents Dechlorination

cleaning chemicals RO process Wastewater from cleaning

Reject water

RO water

RO water plant
 process water

backwash water Pressure common salt

to drain sand filter

Salt tank process

regeneration chemical
wastewater to drain water

Water Salt dose

slow and rapid softner
rinse water (resin bed) tank

backwash water
to drain

soft water

Soft water plant

Raw water pumping from source
Pumping of water through water treatment plants including soft
water plant, RO water plant and DM water plant (including
backwashing, regeneration and rinsing)
Pumping for supply of water to the points of use
Electrical energy for the powering of degasifier of DM water plant
Pumping of wastewater through the effluent treatment plant
and/or sewage treatment plant
Electrical energy for aeration; for sludge recycling, wasting and
handling; for powering the central rotating mechanisms of
primary and/or secondary clarifiers