Milk concentration

[matty77]

We have been asked to design an RO system for concentration of whole milk from 12 to 18% solids using RO. Design data for membranes concentrating milk is limited. Can anybody advise necessary pressures required, and typical permeate fluxes achieved when processing milk. Also any info on the type of pump used ( PD, multistage cetrif) would be useful as would any general tip or tricks in designing a milk concentration system.

 

[Shanzon]

Hi..

I advise you to run some pilot tests and keep pursuing some data from scientific magazines as for example...Food Engineering...o Journal of Membrane Science.
Usually.....multistage centrifugal pumps are applied for this kind of process.
I believe this is not a big deal...there are some systems running in Europe for this application.

Good Lucky!!!

 

[Shanzon]

http://www.extraordinarydairy.com/c_l_techbulletins_innov_008_jan_00.asp

http://www.geafiltration.com/html/market_applications/milk_applications.html

 

[brennanpe]

I would advise you to contact the membrane manufacturer. They have all the expertise in this area as they have been doing it for years.

 

[matty77]

Thanks Shanzon for the links, whilst good general background info we are after specifics in terms of osmotic pressures etc.

Membrane suppliers have not been able to assist to date.

 

[brennanpe]

Who have you contacted? It's most likely that they are in the systems business, that's why they won't talk.

 

[sbush]

Are you sure this is a reverse osmosis (RO) application?

It sounds more like ultrafiltration (UF) to me. Have you contacted any manufacturers of hollow fiber or tubular UF membranes or systems? I know that UF has been used for many years in the dairy industry for pre-concentration of milk proteins used in the manufacturing of cheese and a variety of dairy products. The Romicon division of Rohm & Haas once had exclusive rights to this market, but I believe Rohm & Haas has sold this division to Koch's membrane division (Wilmington, DE).

S. Bush

http://www.water-eg.com

 

[brennanpe]

SBush is correct UF can be used dependant upon the final product desired. RO is also used for milk concentration. See the attached web page.

http://www.kochmembrane.com/mktapp_dairy.html