The dairy industry is a very important branch of the food industry. With the improvement of consumption levels and the enhancement of health awareness, the quality and safety requirements of dairy products are getting higher and higher. As one of the key equipment in dairy production, the choice of centrifuge directly affects the quality, production efficiency and safety standards of the product. In recent years, tubular centrifuges have gradually become important equipment for dairy companies to improve production processes and ensure product quality due to their compact structure, high separation efficiency and high degree of automation. This article will comprehensively introduce the application advantages of tubular centrifuges in the dairy industry, helping companies to deeply understand and scientifically and rationally apply this advanced equipment.
Overview of tubular centrifuge
1 What is a tubular centrifuge
The tubular centrifuge is a high-speed centrifugal device, mainly used for liquid-liquid or liquid-solid separation processes. Its core structure is a high-speed rotating hollow cylinder (drum). After the material enters the drum, under the strong centrifugal force, the materials of different densities are stratified, thereby achieving efficient separation of solids and liquids, grease and water. Since the tubular centrifuge has no disc structure, it is suitable for processing materials containing more solid particles or higher viscosity.
2 Basic working principle of tubular centrifuge
After the material enters the high-speed rotating drum, due to the centrifugal force, the dense solid or heavy liquid layer moves to the drum wall, and the light liquid layer with less density is concentrated in the center of the drum. Through the design of reasonable overflow ports and slag discharge ports, the heavy phase and light phase are discharged from different outlets respectively, achieving continuous and efficient separation. Tubular centrifuges usually adopt automatic slag discharge to ensure the continuity and stability of the production process.
Advantages of tubular centrifuges in the dairy industry
1 Efficient impurity and cell removal
The strong centrifugal force generated by the high-speed rotation of the tubular centrifuge can effectively separate solid impurities and cell components in milk, significantly improving the purity of the clarified raw milk. This not only protects the subsequent process equipment and reduces mechanical wear, but also improves the sensory quality and safety of dairy products.
2 Excellent fat separation efficiency
By adjusting the drum speed and the position of the discharge port, the tubular centrifuge can accurately separate cream and skim milk to achieve accurate control of fat content. This provides technical support for the standardized production of dairy products and the development of diversified products.
3 Strong adaptability and handling of various materials
The tubular centrifuge has a simple structure and is particularly suitable for handling dairy raw materials with high solid content or high viscosity, such as yogurt, condensed milk and cheese whey. Its wear-resistant design ensures stable operation and a long service life of the equipment.
4 High degree of automation and stable operation
Modern tubular centrifuges are equipped with automatic slag discharge systems and intelligent control systems to achieve continuous automatic operation, reduce the need for manual intervention, and improve production efficiency. At the same time, the equipment has multiple safety protection functions to ensure safe and stable production.
5 Easy to clean and sanitary control
Dairy processing has extremely high requirements for sanitary conditions. The tubular centrifuge adopts a fully enclosed design and food-grade stainless steel material, with a smooth surface, which is convenient for CIP (online cleaning) and SIP (sterilization) operations, effectively preventing cross contamination and ensuring food safety.
6 Energy saving and environmental protection, reducing production costs
Modern tubular centrifuges optimize the drum design and drive system to reduce energy consumption and noise. Automated control reduces human errors and downtime, significantly improves production efficiency, and reduces enterprise operating costs.
Typical application scenarios of tubular centrifuges
1 Clarification of raw milk
During the production process, raw milk contains a large amount of foreign impurities, such as dust, hair, cell fragments, etc. The use of tubular centrifuges can quickly and effectively remove these impurities to ensure the quality of raw milk and the safety of subsequent equipment.
2 Separation of cream and skim milk
The tubular centrifuge can achieve efficient separation of fat and skim milk to meet the fat content requirements of different products, such as whole milk, low-fat milk, skim milk, cream, etc., to meet the diversified needs of the market.
3 Clarification of yogurt and fermented dairy products
Fermented dairy products often contain a large number of bacteria and suspended particles. The use of tubular centrifuges can significantly reduce impurities, improve product taste and stability, and improve product appearance quality and shelf life.
4 Cheese whey processing
Whey is a by-product of cheese production and is rich in protein and fat. Using a tubular centrifuge to separate and concentrate whey not only improves resource utilization, but can also be used to produce whey protein powder and whey oil.
Actual case analysis
1 Application of tubular centrifuge in a large dairy factory
The factory has achieved efficient clarification and fat separation of 500 tons of milk per day by introducing advanced tubular centrifuges. The automation system reduces labor input, the product qualification rate is increased to 99.8%, and the waste discharge is reduced by 20%.
2 Efficiency improvement of small yogurt factories
A small yogurt factory uses tubular centrifuges to replace traditional filtration equipment, which significantly improves the impurity removal rate and product taste, and increases annual profits by 15%.
