Whether milk is being made into cheese, ice cream or dairy powders, a whey separator is a vital piece of equipment that separates liquid and solids. This centrifuge-like piece of machinery is the virtual starting point for these products, and it’s important that it be working as efficiently and as well as possible to avoid product loss and expensive energy costs.그릭요거트유청분리기
Separators are built for efficiency and durability, and they’re found all across the dairy industry — and even in other food processing plants, juiceries and breweries. As such, they’re a large investment for any plant, and if the equipment isn’t running properly, production can slow down significantly.
As the name suggests, a whey separator is used to separate whey from skim milk. The separation process happens in a centrifuge-like machine that contains a rapidly rotating bowl and a stack of disks. As the milk rotates at high speeds, it assumes a thin film shape and moves to the center of the disc stack where it is forced off through an opening. The whey and other heavier solids move to the outside of the disc stack where they’re discharged in partial or full drains at regular intervals.
Since the whey is a sweet liquid, it can be used for a wide variety of purposes in the food industry, including as a flavoring and a source of protein for foods like yogurt and cheese. In order to maximize the whey’s value, it is critical that as much fat as possible be removed from the whey. This can be done using a whey separator or a separate cheese equipment known as a clarifier.
Both of these processes are based on centrifugal force, and the key difference is that a whey separator heats the milk proteins before they’re separated. This helps to reduce the viscosity of the milk, which allows the separator to operate more quickly and at higher capacity than a clarifier.
In addition to speed and capacity, a whey separator is designed for easy cleaning. Most models feature a self-ejecting centrifuge bowl that can automatically discharge any heavy solids that build up, and they’re usually suitable for clean-in-place (CIP) operations.
GEA’s latest separator technology also improves the efficiency of the separation process by smartly optimizing the consumption of operating and cooling water based on technical conditions. This can result in significant savings for the dairy plant without any compromise on performance.
A good whey separator can remove up to 75% of the whey fat from the whey, which is a huge boost in product yield and cuts waste costs by eliminating the need for costly additional ejections. This is especially true when the GEA skimming separator is equipped with the HyVol Protein Plus system, which extends the ejection intervals up to six-fold. This increases the overall milk yield and reduces costs for waste water, maintenance and wear of the separator. The system can be added to both new and existing whey separators.베어그릭스