Proper organization of milk reception is essential for the final success in its processing.
The main purpose of milk reception is to preserve quality of the milk coming from the farms. The general requirements that all milk reception sectors should adhere to are:
- Optimum capacity of reception systems that will guarantee quick transportation of the milk to the storage tanks;
- Possibility of de-aeration and precise measurement by volume; the measurement can be done with weight systems, mounted under the storage tanks;
- Possibility of quick in-line cooling of milk;
- Possibility of heat treatment of milk;
- Possibility of mechanical and bacterial clarifying of the milk and in some cases separation;
- Possibility of quick laboratory analysis of the milk;
- Data recording and storage;
- A high level of hygiene of pipelines and storage tanks, possibility of CIP cleaning;
There are four main design and installation concepts in relation to dairy factory milk reception sectors. Other concepts are possible, depending on the specific requirements of the factory and the region. Milk reception sectors are built with a high /HLA/, medium /MLA/or a low/LLA/ level of automation, depending on the clients' requirements and the level of automation in the dairy factory.
There are other types of milk reception, more suitable for medium and big dairy factories: reception with thermization and clarification, reception with thermization, clarifying and bactofugation and reception with cream separation.