DAIRY PLANT DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Module 3. Planning and principle of dairy plant layout

Lesson 10
IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING AND PRINCIPLES OF DAIRY PLANT DESIGN

10.1 Introduction

Dairy Plants are engaged in processing of milk and manufacture of various dairy products. It is estimated that about 20-25 % of the milk produced in India is being processed by organized dairy plants. The planning of dairy and principles of dairy plant layout mainly depends on the type of the products manufactured and the capacity of the plant. It is necessary to consider both the supply of raw milk and market for processed milk. The earlier concept of locating liquid milk plant near the urban areas is changing and the trend is to locate the plant where the availability of milk is more. The availability of manpower, transportation, source of water and disposal of effluent are also to be considered for the planning of dairy plant. Dairy processing plants can be divided into two categories.

• Fluid milk processing plants involving the pasteurization, flavoured milk, butter milk, dahi, paneer etc.
• Composite product plant engaged in processing of milk and manufacture of different products such as cheese, butter, milk powders, frozen products etc.

Dairy processing aspects are changing continually and many new technologies are being used in dairy industry in order to improve productivity, use of automation, manufacture of value added products and conservation of energy.

10.2 Raw Milk Collection and Reception

The milk is collected from the milk producers’ society and the collected milk in milk cans is transported through truck to milk processing plants. As the time spent for transportation of milk from remote places together with warm environmental conditions, the sour milk percentage was higher. Therefore, the concept of establishing chilling center at appropriate location came in to existence to cool the milk in the respective chilling center and the chilled milk is transported to the milk processing plant. When the milk is received in cans, it requires milk reception dock having facility of milk weighing, can conveyer, can washer etc. is required at planning stage of dairy plant. Conversely, chilled milk collection and transportation in insulated tanker requires bay to unload the milk from the tanker. The present trend is to chill the milk immediately as soon as it is received at the milk producers’ society by using BMC which has improved the quality of raw milk received on the plant. Therefore, based on the way of reception of milk, different principles are required for dairy plant layout.

The capacity of the plant and level of automation required in the plant are also important in design of dairy plant. It is also necessary to consider CIP method at the stage of planning a dairy plant. Source of water and its distribution is a factor to be considered at planning stage of a dairy plant. Depending on the method of milk collection and reception, it is necessary to plan the reception dock.

10.3 Processing of Milk

The equipments such as milk pasteurizer, separator, homogenizer, cream separator, etc. are required to be installed in the processing room. The planning of this section is carefully done considering size of the equipments and working space required for ease of operation. Cream separator and bactofugation require more working space in order to dismantle and assemble these equipments. This section also requires to accommodate milk pipelines to transfer the milk. In many dairies, the cream separation and clarification is carried out using self-cleaning separators. The separator also discharges sediment consisting of dirt particles, udder cells, and bacteria, and leucocytes, which normally is collected or led to the wastewater drain.

10.4 Manufacture of Dairy Products

The product mix of the dairy is very vital to decide the planning of dairy plant. The product mix may be cheese, butter, milk powders, etc. The planning of various sections considering size of equipment, space requirement etc. should be considered. The housing of milk condensing plant and spray drying plant requires detailed specifications at the stage of planning of dairy plant. The height of the building and provision to access all components of the condensing and drying plant is one of the important requirements in planning of this section. All heavy equipment such as batch type of butter churn may be installed on ground floor with adequate strong foundation.

10.5 Importance of Planning and Principles of Dairy Plant Design

It is very difficult to develop perfect plant layout for all categories of equipment and services. The ideas of several persons are usually required to make a planning of a dairy building. The provision of future requirements is also to be considered as far as possible. It is noticed in many plants that it is not possible to install a single HTST plant in the existing building to handle more milk. Therefore, it is necessary to consider additional capacity requirement for the next 5-7 years. The adequate provision for offices, laboratory, storage etc. is one of the essential requirements in the planning of dairy plant. The dairy plant layout involves room arrangements and equipment layout considering all technical aspects.

Thus, planning is the way of proceeding or scheme of arrangement for executing any work or project. Planning of dairy plant and adopting principles of design play an important role in the successful running of a dairy plant with desired quality and quantity of output. A well planned design using salient principles of planning helps in following ways.

• Convenience of working
• Ease of handling the operation
• Easy maintenance
• Safety
• Better productivity and labour saving

Advantages of planning and principle of dairy plant designing are mentioned.

• Better hygienic conditions and minimum losses.
• Accommodation of future expansion
• Reduction in processing cost
• Optimal height reception dock improves the working efficiency of worker
• Safety of persons working in the plant.
• Better use of services such as water, electricity, refrigeration, air supply etc.
• Better space utilization for equipment and services. .
• Quick communication with different sections of dairy.
• Efficient utilization of manpower.
• Efficient movement of product within the plant and dispatch
• Energy saving
• Saving on building cost

Utilizing principles of planning and applying them for plant construction leads to economical and effective running of plant. The use of scientific, technical, and logical knowledge can form a model plant for dairy. The planning of dairy plant is more important as compared to other industrial plant due to the requirement of hygienic conditions and perishable nature of milk and milk products.

10.6 Dairy Building Planning

The elevation of dairy building should give advertizing image to the people. The form and shape of dairy building is important as it affects the public reaction as well as upkeep and initial cost. In addition to several technical considerations, marketing of dairy products needs good site selection and attractive building design. Appearance and look are the primary factors affecting the marketing of the products. If a brand is having a typical pattern of building replicated at many places the building pattern itself may become identification for the brand of the organization.