Basic Principles of Whey Pow der Processing

Handout Document at the Whey Seminar in Poland, February 2002

By Mr. Claus Siegaard, Niro A/S

Drawing by Mr. Tony Svatik, Niro Australia Pty. Ltd.

Introduction:
This paper is meant to give you a short introduction to the processing of whey and some of the technology behind. More detailed information will be discussed during an actual project enabling both parties to optimize the process for the given parameters. Today the attitude towards whey has changed and whey is considered as a valuable product that can be processed into many different powder products. Therefore, the time has come to evaluate the way in which the whey business is carried out today. Moving yourself from a business where the whey is used primarily as animal food or simply dumped into small lakes around the country into an advanced utilization of the whey and its components goes hand in hand with the development of the agricultural sector in the country to meet European Union rules and regulations. Instead of paying the local government a penalty for the discharge of the whey or having cost in connection with transporting the whey to the farmer you can now sell the products to large dairies specialized in utilizing the whey. In principle, everybody can build a whey powder factory, but it is important to realize that a certain volume of whey is required to have a profitable production. We estimate that depending on the products you intend to produce you should have a minimum of 300,000 l/day of whey. As many cheese dairies do not have such volumes we often see either several dairies considering a co-operation established on one common whey powder factory, or one dairy invests in the facility and buys the whey from the neighbouring dairies on multiple years' contract. When discussing whey, you must distinguish between sweet and acid whey. You even have to distinguish between different types of whey within these two groups. Further, having a good whey powder still requires that your whey quality is good processing whey into powder does not make miracles. For this reason the design of a large whey powder factory often also requires changes/modifications in the process of the cheese dairy.

The Cheese Dairy:

As mentioned, changes often have to be foreseen at the cheese factories. Typically, the changes required will be a fines-saver, fat centrifuge, silos, additional cooling system, heat treatment and occasionally a nano-filtration plant for pre-concentrating. The fines-saver is a requirement to improve the processes downstream. Typically this should be designed as a continuos inline process so that no temporary storage of the warm whey is required. The cheese fines will simply block the centrifuge and the nanofiltration plant, reducing the capacity on these units and thus the overall process. The centrifuge is introduced to lower the fat content in the whey down to 0,05% again allowing for optimal running conditions of the processes down stream, but also to increase the quality of the final whey powder products. Also the centrifuge should be designed as an inline continues process. The whey fat can be used for standardization of the milk to the cheese production It is important to have minimal storage time of the whey prior to above processes, as storage at high temperature will increase the microbiological level of the whey. The cheese fines and lactose in the whey make good growth material for bacteria and a temperature of 30-40C only increases the growth. It is not advisable seen from an energy consumption point of view to cool the whey at this stage, as the whey should be temperated, when being processed through the fat centrifuge. When the whey has been cleaned for fines and the fat removed, it should have a heat treatment and be cooled to approximately 6C and could now either be stored for transport to the whey powder factory or alternatively processed through a nano-filtration plant. Different manufacturers have different philosophy regarding the required heat treatment of whey, so a thermisation or a low pasteurization would most likely be the applied heat treatment, but of course it depends on the type of cheese manufactured and the general bacteriological level of the factory. The nano-filtration plant (NF) can work as an inline or batch plant and can have larger capacity than what is required for the inline process equipment. A reason for introducing the NF plant is to lower the cost of transportation between the

cheese dairy and the whey powder factory and at the same time the salt content is decreased. The NF plant will typically increase the total solid to 20-22% TS from the 6.25 %TS in the liquid whey, and thus reduce the overall volume to approximately 1/4 that should be transported. Other reasons being the functionality of the downstream processes and the characteristics of the whey powder. The NF plant is designed to achieve a highly specific separation of low molecular weight compounds being water and monovalent ions like NaCl. The membranes are usually of the thin film composite type where it is possible to tailor the structure of the surface layer to achieve their special characteristics. The NF plant performs a unique role by simultaneous separation and concentration function. A partial demineralization up to 40% can be achieved using the NF technology. The storage temperature of the whey should be as low as possible, but preferably 6C this to ensure less changes during storage and transport. When the whey is being transported - concentrated or non-concentrated - it is important that the temperature does not exceed 10C, again to avoid any unwanted microbiological growth.

The Whey Powder Factory:

After the whey is received at the whey powder factory it should be stored in insulated silo tanks to ensure that the temperature does not increase further. The different types of whey are influenced differently by an increased temperature and in acid whey the acidity will prevent the growth of bacteria to some degree, and the temperature importance is therefore of less concern.

Drawing by Mr. Eric Francen, Niro A/S

As different whey types have different characteristics, and therefore requires different process lines, it is important to know the basis whey prior to designing the whey powder factory. Perhaps the factory will receive both sweet and acid whey and many variants within the two general types, some of which can be mixed and processed into a homogeneous powder. However, some types of whey you do not want to mix due to the functionality of the process and others because of the functionality and the applications to which you can sell the powder. In general, we can say that you do not want to mix sweet and acid whey. The level of minerals combined with the pH, especially Ca ++ , in acid whey is so that you must reduce the level to obtain a smooth operation of the evaporator. If not reduced, the acidity, Ca ++ level and the temperature in the evaporator will generate calcium phosphate precipitation and reduce the running time of the evaporator considerably. The powder product to be produced is very dependent on the upstream processes, and in most cases outlines the design possibilities, as can be seen from the block diagram below (limited version).
Acid Whey
Fines Screening

Fat Centrifuge

Heat Treatment

Permeate Permeate NF UF NF DCP Ca++ UF

Permeate NF DCP Ca++

Evaporation

Evaporation

Neutralization Mg(OH)2

Evaporation

Neutralization Ca(OH)2

Neutralization Mg(OH) 2

Evaporation

Crystallization

Crystallization

Crystallization

Spray Drying

Separation "Decanter"

Spray Drying

Spray Drying

WPC 80

Drying

CAWY high Ca++

CAWY low Ca++

Lactose Powder

Several different powder products can be manufactured from acid whey, but in each case it requires a specialized upstream process. The first product mentioned in the block diagram is CAWY high Ca ++ (Crystallised Acid Whey Powder) and the

upstream process includes an evaporator, neutralization and crystallization. The evaporation process is included, as it is cheaper to remove water from the whey in an evaporator than in a spray dryer, and because you will get a better / heavier powder when manufactured at higher TS. The evaporator could be designed with an MVR (Mechanical Vapour Recompression) pre-evaporation section followed by a TVR (Thermal Vapour Recompression) finisher section and finally a flash cooler lowering the temperature of the concentrated whey when leaving the evaporator from 45C to 30C allowing an initiation of the crystallisation and hence a smaller, evenly distributed crystal size. The design of the finisher is critical as a wrong solid content in combination with a too high temperature can give protein denaturation and calcium phosphate precipitation and even browning reactions and a too low temperature can give lactose crystallisation
Drawing by Mr Eric Franzen, Niro A/S

in the evaporator resulting in blockages and poor sub-

sequent crystallization. The technology (MVR/TVR) of the evaporator can be changed depending on what type of energy sources that is best priced in the area in question. The water removed in the evaporation process is called condensate and in the case of acid whey some of the acidity will be distilled over in the condensate. Therefore, the condensate must be polished before being used as e.g. general cleaning water or flush water within the factory. The concentrate having a total solid content between 55-60% TS should be neutralized to eliminate the bad influence by any left acidity in connection with drying,

being for example a sticky behaviour. Prior to spray drying, the concentrated whey should be crystallized. The process of crystallization is very essential to the final result of the powder. First, the initial crystallisation ensuring small crystals is done by having a flash section on the evaporator and by seeding milled lactose crystals to the crystallisation tanks. Secondly, choosing the right crystallisation tank is very important. Two important features when choosing a crystallisation tank are the agitation system and the design of the product outlet. The agitation system is important because it should ensure a continuous and even mix throughout the tank during the period of crystallisation. The design of the product outlet is important, because it can be difficult to empty a tank with crystallised product as it tends to block. Having chosen the right tank you should also have the right philosophy regarding the crystallisation process. In this respect you should ensure the correct filling time and correct cooling temperature (Dt) during the crystallization period so that you will have the optimal crystal sizes. The correct philosophy requires numerous crystallisation tanks, typically between 5-7, depending on the capacity, but based on a 20 h/day continuous operation. A wrong crystallization will give a poor quality of the dried product and major problems during the drying process. Drying of a crystallised whey product of this type will usually require a spray dryer of the compact dryer type. The compact dryer is especially good for whey applications in general, as it is reasonably adaptable to variations in the feed quality. Further, the compact dryer will be equipped with a rotary atomizer ensuring the correct powder characteristics, but also lowering the spare part consumption compared with nozzle atomization. The neutralization upstream to the crystallization is done to facilitate the drying process. Optimizing further on the drying process, two techniques can be applied. Fines return (FRAD) of the cyclone fraction to the atomization zone will coat the wet concentrate particles when leaving the atomizer, giving less deposits on the chamber walls and ceiling. To reduce the de-

posits on the chamber walls further, a wall sweep system will typically be installed. The wall sweep system introduces a temperated air onto the drying chamber wall via an external source. The advantage of having an external wall sweep system is avoiding the disadvantage of an internal sweep system on which powder will stick as the system does not clean itself. The internal static fluid-bed on the dryer finalizes the concept - giving an improved drying economy together with the flexibility of accepting variations in the feed and thus in the powder product when entering the static fluid-bed. Now having a dry product you must still ensure high processing qualities, e.g. cooling of the powder to below 30-35C to ensure that the powder does not cake or self-ignite neither in the silo
Drawing by Mr Eric Franzen, Niro A/S

system nor in the powder bag itself.

Cooling the powder can be done with different technologies based on the same principle of using dehumidified cold air. You can choose to have a VIBROFLUIDIZER after the dryer, into which conditioned air is introduced, ensuring the powder temperature to be correct when leaving the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER. You can also choose to let the powder cooling take place in for example a pneumatic transport system - again using conditioned air for the transport. When conditioning the air, it is important to design a system that takes into consideration the relative humidity % (RH%) that is optimal/maximal for not altering the chemical composition of the powder, but only the temperature. Some powder manufacturers produce crystallized acid whey products with less Ca ++ (CAWY less Ca++ indicated in our block diagram), a partial demineralisation. To manufacture this product requires a new technology called the de-calcium phosphitation process or the DCP process.

As can be seen from the block diagram, the whey is first filtered through an ultrafiltration plant (UF plant). Due to the pore size of the membranes, the major part of the minerals passes through the membrane into the permeate. The retentate that includes the protein will be processed into powder together with the permeate that will be mixed back after processing through other processes first. The permeate is processed through an NF plant that increases the TS% up to 20% allowing an optimal utilization of the DCP process. In the NF plant you will have up to 40% demineralisation. From the NF plant the retentate is processed through the DCP process. In the DCP process the pH and temperature will be adjusted for optimal precipitation of the calcium phosphate. Depending on the required purity of the calcium phosphate, the product can be processed through numerous separation and washing processes. Finally, you will end up with a slurry of calcium phosphate and a stream of supernatant and wash water. The supernatant and wash water will be mixed and returned to the retentate from the UF plant. The supernatant and wash water are rich on lactose and will increase the yield of the drying process. The calcium phosphate slurry can be dried to obtain a calcium phosphate powder.

Steam

Permeate Silo

Holding Tank

Nozze l Clarifie r M SE300

f f

Clarified Permeate

Wash Wat er

Decanter
Drier
NaOH

Cyclone

Drawing by Westfalia Separator AG

Powder

The DCP process prolongs considerably the running time of the downstream process - especially the evaporator running time will increase. In some designs, it would even be possible to reduce the capacity of the evaporator. The DCP process is a huge advantage for the downstream processes, because not only will it reduce the calcium phosphate deposits in the evaporator, but the advantages of not having these deposits are less energy consumption in the evaporator, less pronounced fouling and better subsequent crystallization. The mix between the UF retentate and the DCP supernatant and wash water is then processed through a similar process as for the CAWY high Ca ++ - similar considerations regarding technology and process (evaporation, neutralization, crystallization and drying) apply to the design. Further, this process requires less cleaning and thus less consumption of chemicals. Moving to more advanced products such as WPC and lactose again introduces new technologies and points where you should focus on obtaining the absolutely optimal product. When discussing WPC products you should differentiate between low or high protein WPCs. A WPC 35 (35% Protein in TS) can be produced on a compact dryer in a good quality, but when it comes to a WPC 80 (80% protein in TS), the Tall-Form dryer technology should be introduced. The Tall-Form dryer has nozzle atomization that gives the requested powder properties to the powder and is designed with a special exhaust system called a bustle. The bustle ensures a lower pressure drop in the exhaust zone, which reduces the powder loss to the exhaust system and

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finally to the atmosphere. The Tall-Form dryer is further equipped with a VIBROFLUIDIZER for 2-stage drying. This results in a low particle temperature during drying and a powder with good solubility is achieved. The reason for this request is that WPC 80 is a very light powder, as it will typically be processed with a TS% in the feed of 30-35%. When producing WPC 80 you will have a large stream of permeate from the UF plant. This permeate will include most of the lactose. To improve the quality of the lactose when processed into powder, the NF and DCP technology is introduced again. After these processes, which in principle can be compared with the processes for the CAWY low Ca ++ , the supernatant and wash water will be mixed and processed through an evaporator. The evaporator will in this case not be designed with a flash cooler, as when producing lactose powder you want to have larger crystals due to the yield %, and easier downstream process, for example easier to remove water in the decantation process. If the lactose crystals are too large, you will mill down to the required size after drying. The crystallisation will therefore start at 45C with seeding of lactose powder. The decantation process is a separation process, where you wash your crystallized lactose. The wash water together with the mother liquor contains some lactose and all the minerals and impurities, and should be discharged / sold as animal feed. Having the DCP process as an integrated part of the lactose process reduces the volume of wash water required and thus limits the volume that should be discharged, giving a more profitable operation. Further, the reduction of calcium and other salts minimizes the impurity of the lactose crystals as the seeding generated by the precipitation of the salts and the lactose crystals growing on these salts will be reduced. Lactose powder is marketed as 3 different grades: Technical lactose. Edible lactose. Pharmaceutical lactose.

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The required purity is obtained during the washing process. Pharmaceutical lactose is produced by dissolving lactose crystals, re-crystallization and further washing. Drying of lactose requires a special lactose dryer that can adapt the irregularities in the feed flow that will occur after a decantation process based on differences between the crystallized feed that will occur when changing crystallization tank. The lactose dryer should have a cooling section ensuring that the lactose powder is cooled to 30C or below before being transported to the silo station. Because the design of the evaporator and crystallization process is done to ensure large crystals giving better yield and an easier process, you will have a lactose powder with rather large crystals. Many manufacturers therefore mill down the lactose crystals to the required size. The milling process is a complicated process and explosion is a risk that should be taken seriously. Therefore, you will typically find the milling process in a separate room. You can get quality milling equipment designed to withstand explosions genDrawing by Mr Eric Franzen, Niro A/S

erating a pressure of 3 bar g or 10 bar g - it is advisable to invest in the 10 bar g system.

Why Utilize the Whey?

Can you afford NOT to? If you do not utilize the whey, then you might pollute the local environment ruining the small rivers and the life in them. Above description has outlined a few possible products that can be manufactured from acid whey. Manufacturing these products will not only lower the total BOD discharged into the environment, but it will also give you only one source of whey waste water being at the whey powder factory - a stream that you can control and decide to treat. Not

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having the whey powder factory will give you 10-15 cheese factories, each with its own uncontrolled stream of whey and you have to face the consequences of that. Manufacturing these products is a profitable process, if you have a daily volume of minimum 300,000 l.

Who to Choose as Engineering and Know-how Partner?

GEA has a huge experience in processing whey into numerous products and we have most of the technologies required in-house. Where we find it convenient, we work together with sub-contractors, who are leading within their fields of expertise allowing us to present the best technological solution, looking not only at the processing economy but also at the whey powder product quality. One advantage for you, when doing business with GEA, is that you need only one contractor for your total process. This makes you communication and project development work easier as you will have one point of communication ensuring that the total project will become a success. You will not have any risk in miscommunication/misunderstanding between you and different suppliers - GEA is responsible for the communication within its project organization being inhouse companies or subcontractors - you will communicate with the project manager group, only. Having experience from all around the world, GEA knows the requirements of for example local building companies, local electrical companies and local installation companies that you may choose to contract with - we have a well-documented and easy understandable design/engineering documentation that will help your own direct sub-contractors understand how to co-operate with us. For further information, please call your local GEA Office. GEA Process Technology Warsaw sp.z.oo, Niro Division Jerozolimskie Business Park Al. Jerozolimskie 146a, 02-305 Warszawa, 3rd floor Telephone: E-mail: +48-22-608-1400 +48-22-608-1410 [email protected]. Telefax: +48-22-608-1425 +48-22-608-1426

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