Instant milk-cooling system utilising propane and either ice slurry or traditional ice bank

This paper was presented at the IIR Gustav Lorentzen Conference in Glasgow (Sep. 2004). Two novel milk-cooling concepts have been designed and installed at two Danish farms. These systems have a respective capacity of 14 400 and 16 000 litres of milk every 48 hours. The aims of these two new concepts are to obtain instant cooling of the milk, improve the logistics of milk collection and lower the environmental impact through the use of natural refrigerants only. Milk must be cooled to 4°C before it is collected. These systems make it possible to cool milk down to 4°C within 30 seconds after milking (35°C). Both systems involve a pre-cooler that heats the cows' drinking water and cools the milk down to approximately 18°C, the milk is then pumped into a second cooler where it is cooled down to 4°C. In one case, the second cooler is supplied with brine from an ice slurry storage tank, and, in the other case, it is supplied with brine from a traditional ice bank. Both systems use propane as primary refrigerant. Source: 6th IIR Gustav Lorentzen Natural Working Fluids Conference, Conference papers from Day 3 Sessions 5, 6&7, 6/B/11.20. Authors: L. Soe, T.M. Hansen, B.E. Lundsteen. You can order the proceeding CD-ROM of the Glasgow conference by clicking here.