How to Filter Dairy Products in Food and Beverage Industry?

Dairy products can generally be divided into liquid milk, milk powder, condensed milk, butterfat, cheese, etc. the production process of different kinds of dairy products may be different. In the production process of dairy products, the main filtration processes include incoming filtration process, RO pre-filtration process, raw milk filtration process, vent/air filtration process, ingredient filtration process and steam filtration process.

1. Incoming Water Filtration Process

In the production process of dairy products, the water used to clean the pipes of the system, provide steam for boilers and provide cooling for heat exchangers usually comes from municipal water or well water. Contaminants such as rust and dirt in the water will reduce the service life of the system, so it is necessary to install a filtration system to purify the incoming water. Filtration equipment typically choose Stainless Steel Cartridge Filter Housings, and filtration consumables usually choose High Flow Filters and Melt Blown Cartridges with 25 micron.

2. RO Pre-filtration Process

Pure water filtered by a reverse osmosis system can be used as process water for dairy products such as curd production, brine rinsing system, SIP/CIP, etc. Because larger particles in the water will block the reverse osmosis system and reduce the service life, a pre-filtration system composed of Stainless Steel Cartridge Filter Housings and High Flow Cartridges with 1 micron is generally used to pre-treat the influent water of the reverse osmosis system.

3. Raw Milk Filtration Process

Because raw milk is contaminated by rust, dirt, various organic and inorganic particles during handling and transportation. These pollutants will reduce the quality of raw milk, and then pollute the production process of cheese, yogurt and other dairy products. Therefore, it is necessary to install a filter system to purify the pollutants. The equipment of the filtration system generally selects Sanitary Stainless Steel Cartridge Filter Housings and the filter consumables generally select PP Pleated Filters with 10 micron.

4. Vent/Air Filtration Process

When yogurt and cleaning liquid are pumped out of the storage tank, steam condenses or temperature changes, the storage tank needs to be supplemented with air to prevent the storage tank from collapsing. At the same time, in order to prevent air pollutants from entering the storage tank, an vent filter system will be installed. Because the removal of moisture in the pipelines of transportation, packaging and other equipment and process systems requires sterile air, an air filtration system will be installed to purify air pollutants. The equipment of the vent/air filtration system generally selects Sanitary SUS316 Filter Housings, and the filter consumables generally select Hydrophobic PTFE Membrane Pleated Filters with 0.2 micron.

5. Ingredient Filtration Process

In the production process of yogurt, a sterilization filtration system will be installed after the water pre-filtration system. It is mainly used to provide sterile clean water for the production process to clean the yogurt residue and bacteria accumulated in the production line. The equipment of the sterilization filtration system generally uses Sanitary SUS316 Filter Housings, and the filtration consumables generally select Hydrophilic PES Membrane Pleated Filters with 0.2 micron.

6. Steam Filtration Process

In the production process of dairy products, the steam filtration system mainly provides clean steam for the SIP/CIP system, heat exchange system, curd production system, brine rinsing system and fruit filling and packaging, reducing the wear and tear of the system during operation and prolonging its service life.

In the dairy products production process, the filtration process system should be designed according to the specific requirements of the production process. In addition to the commonly used filtration equipment and consumables mentioned above, the influent filtration process and the reverse osmosis filtration process can also use High Flow Bag Filters, String Wound Cartridges and Liquid Filter Bags, etc. And these filtering consumables can be interchanged according to the design requirements of the filtering process.