MILK PROCESSING

MILK PROCESSING

In Milma, following prioritation is done in the order given here:

· Refrigeration System: Ice Bank Tank (IBT) & Cold store

· Pasteurizers: Milk& Cream

· Packing: Milk & Products

· Boilers, DG Sets, Incubator Room having electrical heaters, Spray Dryers, Blowers, Air Compressors, Pumps, AC & Lightings Systems

· Effluent Treatment Plants and Other motive loads.

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF MILK PROCESSING

Unloading & Platform Test

Queuing

Quality check

Pasteurization

Quality check after pasteurization

Packaging Operations (Processing of milk)

1. Unloading & Platform test

2. Queuing

3. Quality check

4. Pasteurization

5. Quality check after pasteurization

6. Packaging

Unloading & platform test:

Milma buys raw milk from various societies (including Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), which is then unloaded at the plant. This raw milk is subjected to a manual platform test. Here, the milk is checked for any foul smell or visible impurities. If there is any such mentioned, then the milk is discarded.

Queuing:

Only one society’s milk is queued at a time. All the cans from that particular society are transferred into a huge container which has a capacity of 3000 liters. This point is called the Raw Milk Reception Dock (RMRD).

Quality Check:

At the RMRD, a sample of the raw milk is taken and a quality check is done. The fat and SNF (solid non fat) content are checked. Once the milk undergoes the quality check, it is then chilled (to 5 degrees) and transferred into a tank (SILO tank) which has a capacity of 60,000 liters.

In SILO tank the raw milk undergoes a cleaning process for which a CIP (cleaning in position) unit is set up. Here the raw milk is treated with containers washed with 0.1% nitric acid then with alkali (sodium hydroxide) and finally with hot water. A recuperation tank is attached to it which recycles water.

Pasteurization:

From the SILO tank, the milk is then pumped to a flow control value. It controls the flow of the raw milk to be pasteurized. Simultaneous process of heating (79 degrees) and cooling (4 degrees) is done. In an hour, 1000 liters of milk can be pasteurized. Once this process is complete, the milk is transferred to another SILO tank.

Quality check after pasteurization:

The quality of the milk is checked to find if it has 3 % fat and 8.5 % SNF (solid non fat). If the fat and SNF contents are not met, then skimmed milk is added to it to attain the required standards. The milk is stored in cylose tankers with 60,000 L capacity and normally stored to a maximum of 12 hrs.

Packaging:

After checking the quality standards, the milk is then pumped into overhead tank. From these tanks the milk is then transferred to a sophisticated packaging machine. This packaging equipment filters the milk and fills them into sachets of different volumes. The weight of the milk sachets is checked randomly at regular intervals .These sachets are put into a tray, where each tray contains 20 milk sachets. In 15 minutes, a packaging equipment can fill 25 such, which is then taken to the dispatching unit