Reverse Osmosis Concentration of Milk
Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant is used in the dairy industry for the concentration of milk to reduce shipping volumes and transport costs.
Milk is approximately 87 percent water and 13 percent solids.
The milk concentration technology works by removal of water from the cooled milk using very small pores of RO-membranes. The cold temperature at 8 °C is used to prevent increase of bacteria and to maintain the quality of milk components.
Only water can pass through the membrane but milk components do not pass through the membrane. In this case the water is the permeate and the concentrated milk is the retentate. Milk concentration factors range from 2,8X to 3X as shown in the table below:
| 3X (RO) | Fat % | Protein % | Lactose % | Solids-Not-Fat % | Volume (L) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw Milk | 3,8 | 3,2 | 4,5 | 8,6 | 10.000 |
| Condensed Milk | 11,4 | 9,6 | 13,5 | 25,8 | 3.333 |
On-farm milk concentration also means less CO2 emission, less tank space for cooling of the milk, less hauling costs and more profit for farmers.
VANIS offers RO-plants for milk concentration on farms with more than 500 cows.