DAIRY

The dairy industry has used membrane processing since its introduction in the food industry in the late 1960s to clarify, concentrate and fractionate a variety of dairy products. Applying membrane technology to whey processing allowed the production of refined proteins and commercial usage and thus transformed a waste by product from cheese production into a valuable product.

In addition to whey processing, membrane technology is also used for fluid milk processing with clear advantages. Further, specific milk components can be obtained without causing a phase change to the fluid milk by the addition of heat as in evaporation, or an enzyme, as done in most cheese-making techniques. The filtered milk can then be directly used in the manufacture of such dairy products as cheese, ice cream and yoghurt.

By applying membranes with different pore sizes and molecular weight cut-offs (MWCOs), the milk can be modified by separating, clarifying, or fractionating a selected component in milk from other components.

The pressure-driven membrane processes MF, UF, NFand RO are the most common membrane processes in the dairy industry

                                          Cross-Flow Membrane Applications in the Food Industry, Frank Lipnizki

 MILK APPLICATIONS

• Bacteria Removal / Extended Shelf Life Milk
• Removal of Bacteria and Spores from Milk
• Milk Protein Standardization, Concentration and Fractionation
• Concentration of milk
• Milk protein concentrates (MPC)
• Fractionation of milk
• Defatting skim milk and whey streams
• Fractionation of milk protein
• Production of milk protein concentrates (MPC),
• The separation of micellar casein
• Production of infant milk.
• The fractionation of milk proteins
• Milk powder (MP)
• Milk protein concentrate  (MPC)
• UF permeate concentration
• Remove lactose from milk

CHEESE AND WHEY APPLICATIONS

• Concentration of skim and whole milk for cheese making
• Removal of Bacteria and Spores from Milk, Whey and Cheese Brine
• Protein removal from brine used in washed
• Diafiltration of whey
• Partial demineralization of whey
• Removal of Bacteria and Spores from Milk, Whey and Cheese Brine
• Sanitation of cheese brine
• Standardization of protein and total solids in milk for use in fermented dairy products, such as cream
• Cheeses, yoghurt and cottage cheeses
• Whey Protein Concentration and Fractionation
• Cheese tank salt brine recovery
• Concentration of whey proteins as high as 85%
• Production of whey powder
• Whey protein concentrate (WPC)
• Whey protein isolate (WPI)
• Whey demineralisation
• Concentration of Whey
• Removal of salts from whey and UF permeate

ICE CREAM APPLICATIONS

• Increasing skim milk solids for ice cream mix.
• Production of lactose-free, sugar-free or low-carbohydrate Ice cream