Application of centrifuge in dairy industry

Centrifuge is a key equipment in the dairy industry, which is widely used in many production processes to separate and purify substances of different densities through the centrifugal force generated by high-speed rotation. The following are the main applications and specific descriptions of centrifuges in the dairy industry:

Principle

Separation by utilizing the density difference between fat (lower density) and skimmed milk (higher density).

Applications

• Separation of whole milk into skimmed milk and thin cream (with adjustable fat content).
• The fat content of the skimmed milk is controlled by adjusting the centrifuge parameters (e.g. speed, flow rate) (e.g. production of skimmed milk with a fat content of ≤ 0.1%).
• The thin cream can be used for the production of butter, ice cream or re-standardized for blending other dairy products.

Principle

After the action of rennet, milk forms curds (casein) and whey (containing lactose, whey protein, etc.).

Application

• Centrifuges quickly separate the curds from the whey to improve production efficiency.
• Whey can be further centrifuged to purify whey protein (used in protein powders, nutritional supplements, etc.), reducing waste of resources.

Principle

Remove impurities, microorganisms or somatic cells (e.g. somatic cells in milk may affect quality) by centrifugation at high speed.

Applications

• Clarification: Remove particles (e.g. feed residues, cellular debris) from raw milk to improve product sensory quality.
• Degermination (pasteurization aid): some centrifuges remove bacterial spores or heat-resistant bacteria (e.g. Bacillus) to extend shelf life.
• Somatic cell separation: in high somatic cell count milk (e.g., milk produced by mastitis cows) to reduce the impact on the flavor of dairy products.

Principle

Precise adjustment of the proportion of fat, protein and other components in dairy products.

Application

• Production of standardized milk (e.g. whole, low-fat, skimmed milk).
• In the manufacture of milk powder, the fat and protein content of raw milk is adjusted by centrifugal separation to ensure that the composition of the finished product is stable.

• High efficiency: continuous centrifuges can process large quantities of raw milk (several tons per hour).
• Precise: precise control of ingredients through parameterization.
• Non-thermal processing: physical separation avoids the effects of high temperatures on nutrition or flavor (e.g. cold sterilization).

• Thin cream production: centrifugal separation of thin cream for direct packaging after pasteurization or further mixing to make butter.
• Greek yogurt: removal of part of the whey by centrifugal concentration to obtain a thicker texture.
• Whey protein powder: centrifugal separation of proteins from whey, dried to make high value-added products.

Centrifuges are used in the dairy industry throughout the entire chain from raw material processing to by-product recovery, and their core value lies in efficient separation, standardization of ingredients and maximum utilization of resources. With technological advances, centrifugal separation combined with other technologies (such as membrane filtration, chromatographic separation) has further promoted the development of dairy deep processing.