Milk acceptance – the starting point for process technology

The journey of the product in process technology for milk always begins at the milk acceptance station. The first steps performed after the milk has been transferred from the tanker truck are graduated monitoring of the raw milk and documentation of the quality features involved. Deaeration units and conveyor systems for intermediate storage and cooling of the raw milk in the raw-milk tanks are the next building blocks in the sequence. An initial heating step featuring thermisation at low temperatures or pasteurisation extends the treatment time or shelf-life to between two and ten days. In parallel to pasteurisation, the milk is skimmed in a separator, and its fat content standardised to a predefined level, with homogenisation also provided where appropriate.

After first stage in the operation, the milk is then processed as follows:

• for “normally” pasteurised fresh milk in glass bottles or milk cartons with a shelf-life of ten days in the cold chain 
• for ESL-30 milk (Extended Shelf Life), which, like fresh milk, has to be transported in the cold chain, but has a lengthier shelf-life of 22 to 30 days 
• for UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) milk, which has a shelf-life of up to three months when stored at ambient temperature

For each specific application, Krones designs customised solutions and a harmonised concept for the process technology, beginning with the milk acceptance station. The holistic concept adopted also creates efficient solutions for aspects like energy savings, water consumption reduction, effluent minimisation, and downsizing the operating costs by introducing higher-order automation and IT.