The Role of Milk Processing/Dairy Farm Chillers

August 10th, 2016 by

Processing milk requires pasteurization, a technique that destroys pathogens in milk and makes it safe to drink. Pasteurization necessitates the use of milk processing/dairy farm chillers to cool down the milk after the heating-up process. If you run a dairy farm, you’ll want to make sure to buy or rent a chiller that suits your needs well. Fortunately, there are dairy chillers that are ideal for almost any type of dairy-farming operation.

Chillers And Milk Processing

To obtain milk, farmers take cows into a milking platform with individual stalls. The farmer assesses each cow’s health and hooks up milking machines. Farmers closely assess utters for any signs of mastitis to prevent bad milk from making its way into the holding tank. Cows eat as milking machines automatically pump milk into a refrigerated tank, and milk then goes for pasteurization. This is when the dairy chiller comes into play because pasteurization heats milk. Chillers remove heat from pasteurization and cool milk down to an appropriate temperature. Keeping milk at a cool temperature prevents the milk molecule from deteriorating. This preserves milk and extends storage life, which allows for time to transport it to the store.

Two Varieties of Dairy Chiller

The size of your operation has a lot to do with the type of dairy chiller you need. Older models of dairy chillers use a double-walled tank with water and cooling coils that surround the milk tank. A compressor runs and builds ice around the coils in the double-walled area. Once the ice reaches a certain thickness, the compressor shuts off, and ice cools the milk rapidly. If you have a small dairy farm of up to 40 cows, this older design of dairy chiller will work for you.

If you have a dairy farm that consists of over 40 cows, you’ll need a chiller with a different type of design. Plate chillers work well for large demands, and they come in a couple different types. One type of plate chiller uses a glycol and water mixture to cool milk. This chiller pushes milk through stainless steel plates with a glycol and water mixture on the other side of the plates. The mixture cools milk to an appropriate temperature.

Air-Cooled And Water-Cooled Chillers

Dairy chillers come in air-cooled and water-cooled varieties. Air-cooled chillers transfer heat to the surrounding air, while water-cooled chillers transfer heat to a water source, such as a cooling tower. Water-cooled chillers require a mechanical room because they have special equipment that air-cooled chillers don’t have. Air-cooled chillers require an open, airy space because they rely on a consistent stream of fresh air to function.

You should contact a quality manufacturer to help you determine whether an air-cooled or water-cooled dairy chiller would best suit your needs. Water-cooled chillers are more expensive than air-cooled chillers, but they have lower energy costs. They also require more maintenance because of their additional parts, but well-maintained water-cooled chillers have longer lifespans than air-cooled chillers. Air-cooled chillers are ideal to use in areas that have water shortages. They’re also easier to set up than water-cooled chillers because they have a more simplistic design.

At J.C. Younger Company, we rent out quality chillers to professionals throughout the dairy industry. We can recommend an appropriate chiller that suits the size of your operation well. We’ve been a family owned company since 1956, and we’re an ETL listed and inspected manufacturer. Our chillers are rental-job specific with no specialized or OEM components, and we offer the most unit protection in the industry. Please contact us to find out more about our products. We’re available 24/7 to speak with you and provide assistance.