How To Choose A Milk Pasteuriser For A Small Or Mid Size Dairy

Start With Litres Per Hour Not Litres Per Day

A dairy that takes in ten thousand litres a day is not a ten thousand litre per hour plant. Pasteurising capacity has to match the hours you actually run, the cleaning window and the filling speed behind it. Size the pasteuriser from the peak hourly flow the filler needs, then check that the balance tank and feed pump can hold that flow steady.

Plate Or Tubular

Plate heat exchangers give the highest heat recovery and the smallest footprint, which is why most fresh milk and clear juice lines use them. They rely on narrow channels, so anything with pulp, fibre or particles will foul or block them. Tubular units have a wider flow path and handle viscous and particulate products, at the cost of floor space and slightly lower regeneration.

Pasteurisation Or UHT

Pasteurisation extends chilled shelf life and keeps the product in the cold chain. UHT pushes the product to commercial sterility so it can be stored and shipped at ambient temperature, but it only pays off if you also have aseptic filling behind it. Buying UHT without aseptic filling is a common and expensive mismatch.

Do Not Specify Cleaning Last

The pasteuriser, the tanks and the pipework are one cleaning circuit. If the CIP skid is added after the equipment is chosen, it usually ends up undersized on flow or unable to reach a vessel. Draw the cleaning loop at the same time as the process loop.

What To Send Us For A Quotation

Product and viscosity, target litres per hour, inlet and outlet temperatures, available steam and chilled water, and what the filler downstream needs. With those five figures the specification is usually settled in one exchange.