Full steam ahead for dairy energy efficiency

Steam is used in large quantities by a range of different processes on dairies, including evaporation and spray drying in powder production. It’s typically available in high flowrates and pressures before being reduced at different stages prior to being used.

These tasks also happen to be electricity-intensive, which can be a significant financial burden on dairy producers. Dairy processing is estimated to use 250 gigawatt hours per year, with emissions totalling 860,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

New technologies developed by researchers are helping dairy producers use steam to cut energy costs, generate additional revenues, and enhance overall efficiency.

In collaboration with City University of London, Heliex Power has developed a technology called a Heliex GenSet, which turns “wet” or saturated steam into electricity. Its development is a breakthrough in energy recovery. The company also recently launched a complementary steam re-compressor, its Heliex SteamComp, to re-energise the vapour after it has already been through an industrial process.

Chris Armitage, chief executive of Heliex Power, explains, “Processing dairy products is an energy intensive task and it also happens to use a lot of steam: that’s where the Heliex GenSet and Heliex SteamComp come in. They help process industries use their plentiful wet steam as a source of low-cost electricity – which is ideal in dairy applications.

“Not only will it produce a low-cost supply of electricity for more than 20 years, the energy can be sold back to the grid. That means you can also generate additional revenues from any excess electricity.”

When applied to dairy processors, which produce milk powders, whey proteins, and other powders and concentrated products, the technologies deliver a solid payback. The process steam can generate a low-cost supply of electricity and providing 129 kilowatts of electricity.

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