A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE REGARDING

DEVELOPMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE DAIRY

PROCESSING

Kevin van KoertenKevin.vankoerten@nizo.comProject Manager Processing

NIZO TIMELINE

NIZO

CHALLENGES

Growing world population

9.7 billion in 2050

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs“

(UN, Brundtland Report, 1987)

SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY = PEOPLE, PLANET, PROFIT

circular economy

effective use of (food) materials

safety

availability of land, water and energy

well-being

sustainable business

Food accounts for 30% of Global Warming Potential (GWP) where meat accounts for 12% of GWP and dairy for 4%.

SUSTAINABILITY IN DAIRY

8

41

1219

42

58

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

No

n-r

en

ew

ab

le e

ne

rgy u

se

in

MJ

/kg

• >60% from primary sector (CH4 has 84 times higher impact on GWP)

• 15-20% from processing

• 15% consumer

WHERE IS GWP COMING FROM

• 10 years ago this was the case in the Netherlands

• Today:

• Companies like Unilever, Danone and FrieslandCampina are audited on their (public) sustainability goals

• Active government policies on sustainable production

• New investments are separated in grey and green. For green investments longer payback time are tolerated. Some companies only accept investment with lower Carbon footprints

• Companies become aware that sustainability can go hand in hand with making more profit

• Sustainability branding enlarges your market

IS SUSTAINABILITY JUST A MARKETING ISSUE?

• Water usage• Nutritional content (↑ nutritional content, ↓ fat, ↓ sugar)• Protein transition (animal → plant)• Provenance

OTHER SUSTAINABILTY TOPICS

• Novel processes & technologies• Optimize current process

o Usage of raw materials

o↑ throughput, ↓ waste

o Energy usage (source)

o Water usage

MEANS OF BECOMING MORE SUSTAINABLEFOCUS ON PROCESSING

SIDE STREAM VALORIZATION

FUNCTIONAL FRACTIONATION

FUNCTIONAL FRACTIONATION

• Spray dryer capacity limited by product stickiness

SPRAY DRYER OPTIMIZATION

• Spray dryer capacity limited by product stickiness

SPRAY DRYER OPTIMIZATION

SPRAY DRYER OPTIMIZATION

Start

Optimal

Sticky

• Reference capacity value (100%) = maximum capacity at non-sticky conditions for maximum value of X

• Continuous capacity optimization at constant Tout

=> Capacity = 109%

SPRAY DRYER OPTIMIZATION

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

27

-5

28

-5

29

-5

30

-5

31

-5

1-6

2-6

3-6

4-6

5-6

X (

g/k

g)

safe operation (highest humidity) vs. continuous optimization

• Basic powder production process:membrane/reconstitution -> falling film evaporator -> spray dryer

• More water evaporation in earlier stages = less energy and more spray dryer throughput

HIGH SOLIDS EVAPORATION

Unit operation Energy consumption(different units)

Recalculated energy consumption (MJ/tonne removed water)

Membrane unit 5-10 kWh/tonne permeate 20-40

MVR evaporator 15 kWh/tonne evaporated water 553-stage TVR evaporator

0.22 tonnes steam/tonne evaporated water

500

Spray dryer1.5-2 tonnes steam/tonne evaporated water

3500-4500

• Adjust process line

• Evaporator adjusted for higher solids

• Pressure pump to spray dryer

• Nozzle selection with regards to product viscosity• Possible problems

• Change in product quality

• Fouling in spray dryer

• Case of skim milk to tower 50% -> 55%

• 23% increased throughput and 16% less energy

• No degradation of powder quality

HIGH SOLIDS EVAPORATION

• TVR evaporation is commonly used to achieve high dry matter concentrates:

• High steam consumption

• Need for cooling source

• Modern cascade MVR fan designs can achieve high temperaturegradients:

• Practically no steam required

• Modest power requirement

• No cooling need

FALLING FILM EVAPORATORS

• Evaporation using multistage or MVR evaporation is replaced bymembrane techniques: e.g. RO/NF

• Typical features:

• Cold process: no degradation of whey proteins

• Less waste water

• Lower investments

• No need for tall buildings

PRE-CONCENTRATION

• Classical microbiology: plate counting on selective media

• Main issues: false positives and false negatives• DNA sequencing can be used for identification

• Use of colony to extract DNA➔ disadvantage: requires growth on selective media

• Direct isolation of cells from matrix and extract DNA:

• Single strain can be identified

• Multiply strains: no pure DNA ➔ no match

• High throughput sequencing of individual strains: entirepopulation can be mapped

• DNA fragments gel electrophoresis: to match source and finalcontaminant

MODERN MICROBIAL ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES APPLIEDON THE PLANT FLOOR

• Flowsheeting with unit operation models and component kinetics• In food also product-process interaction models

(PREDICTIVE) PROCESS MODELLING

circular economy

effective use of (food) materials

safety

availability of land, water and energy

well-being

sustainable business