Elevate Dairy Processing with Industrial Milk Pasteurizer Technology

Viravix Engineering offers a service for setting up a ice crean pasteuriser from scratch or optimising an existing process and upgrading a ice cream pasteurisation system. Our experts have more than 15 years’ experience in leading food processing companies. We connect the best process engineers with dairy producers.

What is the problem with a milk pasteurizer

Raw milk is delicious but not safe. It can contain a huge number of pathogens that can cause gastrointestinal disorders or lead to dangerous diseases: salmonellosis, brucellosis.

Heat treatment reduces the bacobiogenicity of the product. In addition, it considerably extends the shelf life of the milk.

Pasteurisation is a gentle heat treatment method. Most pathogens are killed at 60 °C or higher, so milk does not have to be boiled. It is sufficient to heat it to the correct temperature and then cool it quickly. Unlike boiling, pasteurisation does not lose the organoleptic characteristics of the product: colour, taste, smell and consistency.

Proper heat treatment is important so that there are no returns of unsold milk. Unpalatable or sour product leads to losses for the producer:

  • reputational – when consumers do not trust a brand;
  • commercial – due to fines, administrative suspension of the plant and losses on sales;
  • legal – lawsuits from buyers and claims from the health authorities.

The importance of pasteurisation is understood by all the key players in dairy production, but they have different expectations of the process.

All pasteurisation problems can be reduced to one question: “Which pasteuriser should I buy?

  • Director
    It is important to the that the heat treatment ensures consistent product quality, but that it does not lead to a noticeable increase in the cost of production.
  • Engineer expects
    The chief engineer expects the pasteuriser to be easy to maintain and the unit to be energy efficient.
  • Technolog
    The technologist needs productive and adaptable equipment. That is, the machine must be able to cope with existing production volumes and can be adapted to increase (change) them without costly modernisation.

Types of milk pasteurizer design for dairy production

 
 
A total of four design types of plant are used:
 
Tank
steam-contact baths for prolonged pasteurisation (30 minutes) at a temperature of 63-65 °C. These units have a low capacity, but they retain the organoleptic properties of the milk well. The baths are suitable for treating raw materials that contain microflora with low temperature stability.
The plate
heaters are designed to pasteurise the product for a short period of 20-30 seconds at 72-78 °C. They are suitable for heat treatment of milk, cream and ice cream. Pasteurizers of this type are fitted with heat-exchange plates and consist of several sections: for regeneration, separation, pasteurisation and cooling. The disadvantage is the large number of gaskets.
Tubular
units are suitable for viscous dairy products. The main elements are a heat exchanger made of two cylinders, a piping system and a centrifugal pump. The milk moves in series from the lower cylinder to the upper one. In the first, it is heated to 50-60 °C, and in the second it undergoes instant pasteurisation at 80-90 °C. The main disadvantage of tube pasteurisers is that they require a lot of space for washing.
Centrifugal with a displaced drum

 

Similar in principle to the tube pasteuriser. They are designed for instant pasteurisation at 88-90°C. The heat treatment takes place with or without milk held at high temperature for a few seconds.
There are only four types of milk pasteuriser by design, but there are many variations. The units can therefore vary considerably in price.

Industrial pasteurizers for the dairy industry are classified, among others:

  • by principle of operation – continuous and periodic;
  • by type of treatment – thermal (heating) and cold (ultrasonic, UV treatment);
  • by pasteurisation time – long-lasting, short-lasting and instantaneous;
  • by the energy used – thermal or electrical;
  • The number of sections – e.g. a plate pasteuriser can have two regeneration sections and two holding (pasteurisation) sections, as well as the presence of a recuperation section;
  • by degree of automation – from a single channel controller to a fully automated system with recording and storage of all operating data;
  • by the number of pumps;
  • by the presence of an integrated CIP washer, etc.

Viravix experts will determine which unit is suitable for your production conditions after reviewing your process data. They will select the equipment so that you do not overpay for unnecessary functions.

 

Why you can trust us?

We are a team of process engineers renowned in the industry. Each of our specialists started out as a simple maintenance worker and has grown to become an expert with responsibility in several food processing plants.

As part of Viravix, we have already carried out dozens of projects in Ukraine and the EU. For some dairy producers, we have supported individual stages of modernisation, for example, by helping them select and supply equipment. For some, we have carried out turnkey projects.

We are ready to prove our experience with credentials from experts and successful cases.

VIRAVIX uses international standards and practices in the areas of safety, food quality and sensible energy use in production.

Our partner is Elaks, whose experts have been involved in turnkey industrial automation for almost 30 years. They have carried out projects for Nestlé, Wimm-Bill-Dann and other major players in the food industry.

What you get when you work with us?

At the design stage:

  • individual selection of the pasteuriser on the basis of overall operating costs;
  • 3D modelling of the heat treatment process and 3D scanning of existing rooms for optimum equipment layout;
  • modifications to the pasteuriser based on the 3D model and specifications;
  • workshop with your experts to agree on a technical solution.

In the process improvement phase:

  • monitoring and data archiving systems with user-friendly interfaces, free of charge for the warranty period.

During the warranty phase:

  • discounts on components as an engineering company – 15-30 %;
  • 24/7 remote support;
  • the possibility of extending access to the monitoring system at a discount for a fee;
  • recommendations for reducing water, heat and energy consumption during pasteurisation after 6-12 months of observation.

These are not empty promises. We will confirm our qualifications and experience with the necessary documents, cases.

Possible solutions to improve the pasteurisation process

We obtain the primary data for analysis through a monitoring system we developed in-house. This is a user-friendly web-based application that we have used successfully since the covid pandemic.

What we can do for you:

  1. Find the causes of poor quality pasteuriser washing and propose solutions to eliminate them. This will improve the bacteriological purity of the final product.
  2. Upgrade an existing pasteurisation process to increase capacity or introduce additional heat treatment modes for new products.
  3. Identify the causes of energy losses and propose solutions to reduce water, steam and electricity consumption.
  4. Automate the entire pasteurisation process to eliminate the influence of human error.
  5. Install a system for monitoring and archiving data during milk heat treatment.
  6. Automate the CIP washer of the pasteuriser.

You do not have to order the whole list. We will find out exactly what your company needs after analysing the raw data.

What will be the result?

You will receive:

  • stable dairy product quality;
  • reliable operation of the equipment;
  • opportunities for further modernisation when expanding the product range or increasing production volumes;
  • a data monitoring and archiving system that will allow the pasteurisation process to be remotely controlled 24/7 from anywhere in the world where the internet is available.

Your additional benefits

Leave a request with Viravix Engineering in any way you like, or call for a free consultation if you still have questions.

You can also get:

  1. Training your technicians in the operation of the pasteuriser. Any engineer knows that the more complex the technique, the easier it is to break.
  2. Extended equipment warranty.
  3. Procurement of components at a 15-30% discount as an engineering company.
  4. Installation by your specialists to reduce the cost of the project.
  5. Remote access unit for pasteuriser with IBH Link IoT.
  6. Remote commissioning and incident advisory support to save a service engineer up to 340 euros per day on travel.

We don’t abandon our clients once a project has been completed and are always ready to widen the scope of our cooperation.