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“What’s nice about working with Mike and Mellisa was how quickly they could adapt to changes.”

Dairy Trouble Shooting in a Flexible Environment

The CDR Dairy Processing Group provides industry and researchers with strategic technical information concerning processes involving fractionation, concentration or drying of milk, whey and whey proteins.

The Processing program operates and maintains a Pilot Plant with highly adaptable equipment to process and fractionate milk and whey products. The facility and equipment are available for industry sponsored projects. Examples of equipment include several spiral element units (RO, UF, NF, MF), a pilot scale plate heated evaporator and a pilot spray dryer utilizing a high pressure atomizer. Other equipment includes a two stage homogenizer, a research HTST, and other novel filtration systems. The Pilot Plant is also equipped to manufacture some of the fast growing soft dairy products such as concentrated yogurts.

The Processing program utilizes the equipment in the Pilot Plant for training of students and industry personnel, for performing research trials, or for running industry trials and cutting-edge, novel experiments. Our equipment allows us not only to fractionate milk and whey products but to process them into concentrated or powder forms for use as prototypes or for proof of concept. Equipment, processes and informational bulletins are updated to keep pace with this important and rapidly growing and changing field.

Processing staff members have decades of industry experience in processing milk and whey products and are available as a consultant to dairy companies, equipment companies, researchers, buyers and end users of dairy products. We are also able to provide confidential contracted company training as well as confidential trials, testing and more.

Success Story: Cultured Dairy Product Processing

When Tim Noll, a consultant specializing in cultured dairy products, wanted to trial a new piece of equipment for manufacturing a cultured dairy product, he turned to CDR.

Read More

Fluid Milk Farm to Fork

Consumers have shown a greater interest in understanding where their food comes from and how it is manufactured. To aid in consumer education efforts, CDR has created a visual illustrating the path fluid milk typically takes as it moves from Farm to Fork.

Dairy Processing Pilot Plant Equipment

The CDR Dairy Processing pilot plant has the capabilities to conduct a wide range of dairy related processes to produce beverages, cultured products, concentrates and powders. If you have any questions about CDR’s Process equipment contact: Mike Molitor, Process Pilot Plant Manager.

Please note this equipment is NOT for sale.

LOW VOLUME ULTRAFILTRATION OR MICROFILTRATION (SPIRAL ELEMENT) SYSTEM

Use with either one vessel or two vessels in series holding one 3.8” diameter element per vessel. Designed to have a very low internal volume, this system can be easily drained after trials that concentrate valuable and/or low yielding products. The frequency controlled pumps allow baseline (outlet) pressure to 45 psi and proper boost pressure. Each 3.8” x 38” element (with 46 mil spacer) contains approximately five square meters of membrane area.

MICROFILTRATION (SPIRAL ELEMENT) SYSTEM

Use with either one or two vessels holding one 8.0” diameter element per vessel. The smart hydraulic design readily achieves the combination of very low baseline pressure and the high cross flow required for efficient microfiltration. Each 8.0” x 38” element (with 46 mil spacer) contains approximately 24 square meters of membrane area.

REVERSE OSMOSIS OR NANOFILTRATION (SPIRAL ELEMENT) SYSTEM

Use with either one vessel or two vessels in parallel holding one or two 3.8” diameter elements per vessel. The frequency controlled pumps allow baseline (outlet) pressure up to 500 psi and proper boost pressure. Each 3.8” x 38” element (with 46 mil spacer) contains approximately five square meters of membrane area.

ULTRAFILTRATION OR MICROFILTRATION (SPIRAL ELEMENT) SYSTEM

Use with anything from one to six vessels holding one or two 3.8” diameter elements per vessel. The frequency controlled pumps allow baseline (outlet) pressure to at least 30 psi and proper boost pressure. Each 3.8” x 38” element (with 46 mil spacer) contains approximately five square meters of membrane area.

ULTRAFILTRATION (SPIRAL ELEMENT) SYSTEM

Use with either two vessels in parallel holding up to two 4.3” diameter elements per vessel or with one vessel holding up to two 4.3” diameter elements. The frequency controlled pumps allow baseline (outlet) pressure up to 35 psi and proper boost pressure. Each 4.3” x 38” element (with 46 mil spacer) contains approximately eight square meters of membrane area.

SMALL HTST PASTEURIZER

Utilizes a three section (preheat, final heat & cooling) plate heat exchanger to start and end with any desired product temperatures and pasteurization up to 200º F. The typical product flow rate is 1.0-1.2 gallon per minute and it is capable of many hold times ranging from approximately 16 seconds to 160 seconds.

APV SINGLE EFFECT BATCH EVAPORATOR

Single Effect Batch Evaporator with wide gap plate heat exchanger and large vacuum pump to facilitate processing a wide range of products including heat sensitive proteins. It has a design specification to evaporate 250 pounds of water per hour (given an effect boiling temperature of 130º F).

APV PILOT SCALE ONE STAGE SPRAY DRYER

The pilot scale one stage (U tube) spray dryer is best suited for “lower” sugar products like nonfat dry milk, WPC, MPC and protein isolates. If used to dry whey or permeate, keep in mind that the powder will contain significant quantities of hygroscopic (amorphous) lactose. It’s direct fired with natural gas and utilizes one high pressure nozzle to atomize the product. It’s capable of 40 – 60 pounds of water evaporation per hour depending on the drying temperatures chosen. A compact coil heat exchange system can be used to heat product up to 170º F in line just prior to the high pressure pump which feeds the nozzle. Our dryer has been used to spray dry a vast range of dairy derived products.

MOBILE FRISTAM FZX2100 LIQUID RING PUMP

Mobile Fristam FZX2100 Liquid Ring Pump with motor frequency control. The Fristam FZX is a unique centrifugal pump that can self prime to suction lift product, if necessary; and it has less shear potential which makes it a good choice to transfer products like cream. It has 2” diameter inlet/outlet and can pump up to 50 gallons per minute.

MOBILE FRISTAM FKL50 POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT PUMP

Mobile Fristam FKL50 Positive Displacement Pump with 2.5” diameter inlet/outlet, gear reduction and motor frequency control. The working flow rate is up to 25 gpm. The Fristam FKL pumps efficiently CIP (internally) and are the best choice for high viscosity products.

GAULIN MODEL 125E, TWO STAGE HOMOGENIZER

Operates at approximately 2 gpm flow rate and up to 5,500 psi.

TANKS RANGING FROM 5–500 GALLONS

Tanks ranging from 5–500 gal, several with heat exchange jackets suitable for use with ice water or hot water; several with the option to use variable speed agitation; one with powerful agitation suitable for crystallizing high solids whey or permeate.

FARMSTEAD BUTTERFAT SEPARATOR

Two pilot scale butterfat separators for separating up to five gallons of milk or whey.

Dairy Processing Program Contact

Cultured Products, Dairy Processing

Mike Molitor

Innovator / Process Pilot Plant Manager

608-265-5919