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Quotes - Engineering - SalesShell & Tube Heat Exchangers for Dairy
High pressures and viscous flows in dairy can stress exchangers. Our shell & tube designs feature U-tube bundles, fixed tubesheets, and floating heads in polished 316L stainless to handle 300+ psi at 300°F while enabling thermal expansion and easy bundle removal for inspection—ideal for UHT milk lines and cheese curd cookers.
Applications
- UHT Sterilization: Shell & tube exchangers heat milk to 140°C under pressure, achieving sterility for aseptic filling in 50,000 L/h systems.
- Cheese Curd Cooking: Robust designs raise viscous curd-whey to 55°C, expelling whey uniformly for hard cheeses like parmesan.
- Cream Pasteurization: High-pressure tubes handle 18–40% fat creams at 85°C, preventing separation in whipping cream lines.
- Whey Concentration: Multi-pass shells evaporate whey to 50% solids at 60°C vacuum, recovering proteins for supplements.
- CIP Heating: Exchangers heat caustic solutions to 80°C for effective cleaning of dairy equipment without disassembly.
Sanitary Design
Hygienic Standards for Dairy Processing
- Electropolished 316L Surfaces
- Crevice-Free Orbital Welds
- Full Drainability & CIP Optimization
3-A Compliance
Certified for Dairy Safety
- Official 3-A Symbol Authorized
- Ra = 32 µin Product Surfaces
- No Threads in Wetted Areas
The Benefits of Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers for Dairy
In high-pressure dairy applications, exchanger integrity is critical to maintaining continuous operations and product safety. For instance, a UHT milk processor avoided costly downtime from leaks by implementing our fixed tubesheet shell & tube design equipped with expansion joints. This robust system handled pressures up to 250 psi at temperatures of 150°C for extended 96-hour runs, while innovative helical baffles reduced fouling by 30%, ensuring consistent heat transfer efficiency. As a result, the plant passed rigorous FDA audits with zero violations, demonstrating the reliability of our exchangers in demanding environments.
Our shell & tube exchangers are engineered with advanced features tailored for dairy processing, including double tubesheets for superior leak detection and prevention of cross-contamination. They incorporate ASME-stamped shells for high-pressure compliance and sanitary ferrules that promote full drainability, crucial for preventing bacterial growth. Custom multi-pass configurations are optimized to maximize log mean temperature difference (LMTD) in viscous dairy flows, while electropolished tubes minimize surface adhesion of milk solids. These units seamlessly integrate with SCADA systems for real-time pressure monitoring, temperature control, and automatic shutdowns in case of anomalies, enhancing overall plant safety and efficiency.
From small-batch curd cookers in artisanal cheese production to large-scale continuous UHT lines in industrial milk processing, our shell & tube exchangers provide the exceptional pressure rating, superior cleanability through CIP-compatible designs, and unmatched reliability required for demanding dairy operations. Built with pharmaceutical-grade stainless steel and adhering to 3-A sanitary standards, they withstand harsh cleaning cycles and corrosive dairy environments, ensuring long-term performance—batch after batch, year after year.
