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National Biodiesel 05.02 2012 - 08.02 2012
Orlando, FL, USA
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Lactose

Lactose is an important by-product from cow‘s milk. It is dissolved in cow‘s milk at 4.7 g per liter and is produced in the cow‘s udder. Chemically speaking, lactose belongs to the disaccharide family and is composed of  one molecule galactose and one molecule glucose.

 

Lactose is much in demand by industry, for example:

 

In the food sector

  • As a filler in foods
  • As a fat binder in baking

In the pharmaceutical sector

  • As a filler, binder and adsorber
  • As a coating for pills and tablets

GEA Westfalia Separator‘s expertise in process technology facilitates efficient recovery of lactose. Concentration, crystallization and washing allow lactose to be obtained particularly economically and reliably in the process lines.

Process line for obtaining lactose for the pharmaceutical and food industries

Process line for obtaining lactose for the pharmaceutical and food industries

The traditional starting product for lactose production is sweet or sour whey, usually in the form of a permeate. The permeate has the advantage that the whey proteins have already been removed, which simplifies process management for improved yields. The purity of the starting materials in the process can be increased by nanofiltration and decalcium phosphatization on the GEA Westfalia Separator principle before the evaporation stage.

 

The yield depends primarily on the raw material used, on crystallization and on the process technology. However, the yield can still be significantly increased by integrating nanofiltration, decalcium phosphatization together with electrodialysis and ion exchange in the conventional process.

 

The raw material is normally evaporated to a dry substance of about 60 percent. The concentrate is subsequently crystallized in special crystallization tanks. This process step lasts between 12 and 30 hours.

 

The crystallized whey concentrate is now passed to a first decanter at an ideal temperature of 10 to 12 °C which separates the lactose crystals with a dry substance of 85 to 88 percent. The mother liquor spun off has a dry substance of 27 to 30 percent.

 

The crystallized whey concentrate is now passed to a first decanter at an ideal temperature of 10 to 12 °C which separates the lactose crystals with a dry substance of 85 to 88 percent. The mother liquor spun off has a dry substance of 27 to 30 percent.

 

The concentrate is subsequently crushed when dry, screened and packed in sacks.