GEA Westfalia Separator Group separates the curd from the whey for Douglasdale dairy
The MSE 180-01-777 separator from GEA Westfalia Separator Group, part of a complete system refurbishment for Douglasdale Dairy, is an upgraded version that increases processing capacity from 18 000 l/h to 25 000 l/h of fresh milk per day.
From left: Rowan Mathews (Owner of Douglasdale Dairy), Robert Ward (Assistant Manager) and Andrew Edwards (Technical Manager of Douglasdale Dairy) with the new MSE 180-01-777 separator installation from GEA Westfalia Separator Group.
GEA Westfalia Separator Group, the world’s leading company for mechanical separation technology, has fulfilled a substantial contract by completing the installation of a MSE 180-01-777 separator system for Douglasdale Dairy, one of the largest fresh milk processing plant in South Africa.
Douglasdale Dairy, an established client of GEA Westfalia Separator Group, required a world-class facility upgrade that would replace the 20-year old system it was running, with an upgraded version that would increase its processing capacity from 18 000 l/h to 25 000 l/h. The benefits of the MSE 180-01-777 separator includes an increase in plant capacity and productivity, a decrease in running costs and improved skimming efficiency.
“Douglasdale Dairy has been running GEA Westfalia separators for over 30 years and has come to trust that it is the best in the industry,” notes Andrew Edwards, Technical Manager, Douglasdale Dairy.
The milking process starts with the raw milk being delivered into a pasteurising tank. The milk is then pumped into the MSE 180-01-777 separator where it is separated into cream and skimmed milk. A standardiser then pumps a certain percentage of the cream back into the skimmed milk to produce full cream, low-fat, or skimmed milk. The milk then moves through a CNE 215-01-076 Westfalia bacteria removing separator, in order to remove 95% of the bacteria, after which it is pasteurised at 75°C. The milk is homogenised, and cooled again to 4°C in another pasteurising tank before it is bottled and distributed by Douglasdale to different regions.
The MSE 180-01-777 has a self-cleaning bowl that allows for fully automatic cleaning-in place. The opening and closing of the bowl takes place hydraulically to discharge the solids. An extension of the ejection intervals can be achieved by choosing the Westfalia Separator® proplus system, thus reducing the solids discharge. The feed and discharge are designed to suit the application, but are incorporated in a closed line system to minimise oxygen intake. In order to optimise the separating efficiency and product quality, the product feed and discharges in the bowl are hydrohermetically sealed in order to decrease the impact of the shear force.
“The installation went very smoothly. We had a German Dairy Application Engineer/Specialist assist the local engineers in start-up and commissioning. He also assisted the customer and staff with the initial running of the machine,” concludes Rainer Kettner, Sales Engineer, GEA Westfalia Separator Group.
GEA Westfalia Separator Group offers international and local expertise on the complete milking process and can offer customers, like Douglasdale Dairy, individually designed components that contribute to the optimisation of their individual processes.
Enquiries:
Taryn du Plessis
GEA Westfalia Separator South Africa (Pty) Ltd
Midrand
Tel: (011) 805 6910
Fax: (011) 805 6911
E-mail: taryn.duplessis(at)geagroup.com