Process and assembly to convert warm bulk liquid milk to milk powder

• Main Authors: LASCHOBER, ELISABETH, WIEN, AT, LASCHOBER, GEROLD, WIEN, AT, LASCHOBER, GERHARD, WIEN, AT, LASCHOBER, MONIKA, WIEN, AT
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; German
• Published: 19.02.1998
• Edition: 6
• Subjects: DAIRY PRODUCTS, e.g. MILK, BUTTER, CHEESE; FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; MAKING THEREOF; MILK OR CHEESE SUBSTITUTES; THEIR TREATMENT, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES

Process and assembly to dry fresh milk immediately after milking, the milk is heated and agitated under a vacuum while the moisture is abstracted. Heat is drawn from the drying milk and is surrendered to the fresh milk by a heat exchanger. The novelty is that: (a) the drying assembly (10) has an inner drying chamber (11) which is heated by a microwave emitter (14) aimed directly at the drying milk and converting it from a liquid to a solid condition; (b) the preliminary warm-up of the milk may be effected through a heat-exchanger (8) in which the heat (25) is provided by bio-gas; (c) the bio-gas is produced using condensates drawn from the drying chamber (11); (d) the assembly is located in the immediate vicinity or within the milking parlour, so that the milk temperature has declined very little after milking the animals; (e) the assembly is installed between a milking parlour and a storage unit (23) for the dried products; (f) the materials used for the fabrication of the drying chamber (11) are suitable for use in conjunction with microwave emissions; (g) the drying process is controlled by a regulator device (41) with sensors (41a).