The line

15 stages, three zones, one continuous line.

Reception, cooling and pasteurisation live in the Wet zone; spray drying and agglomeration in the Dry zone; sieving, silo, QC and packing in the Finishing zone.

01
Wet zone

Raw milk reception

CCP-1

80,000 L/day intake from cooperative farms, screened at the platform. Antibiotic residue test is a mandatory CCP for every tanker.

Daily volume80,000 L
Fat / Protein / Lactose3.80 / 3.20 / 4.70%
Total solids12.40%
Loss0.5%
02
Wet zone

In-depth QC & release

Physical, chemical and microbial checks decide the pass/fail. Typical release rate is 95–98%.

Density1.028–1.033
pH6.6–6.8
TPC≤ 100,000 cfu/mL
Somatic cells≤ 400,000 /mL
03
Wet zone

Cooling & buffer storage

Milk is pulled to 4 °C in under 30 minutes and buffered ≤ 6 h. Silos are jacketed SS 316L with slow-rpm agitation.

Inlet → outlet10 → 4 °C
PHE capacity12,000 L/h
Silo2 × 30,000 L
04
Wet zone

HTST pasteurisation

CCP-2

72 °C for 15 s with a certified chart recorder and automatic flow-diversion valve. Alarm ≤ 71 °C.

Temp × time72 °C × 15 s
Heat recovery≥ 90%
Homogeniser2-stage / 200 bar
05
Wet zone

Cream separation (split point)

Whole milk splits into 72,400 L skim and 7,600 L cream at 40% fat. Skim residual fat ≤ 0.05%.

Skim / Cream72,400 L / 7,600 L
Cream fat40%
Fat extracted3,040 kg/day
06
Wet zone

Vacuum evaporation

Falling-film evaporator with MVR raises total solids from 12.4% to 50%, evaporating 60 t/h of water at low temperature.

TS in → out12.4% → 50%
Water evaporated60,000 kg/h
Vacuum-0.85 bar
Effects3–4 + MVR
07
Dry zone

Spray drying + fluid bed

CCP-3

Concurrent spray dryer with disc atomiser, 180–200 °C inlet, 80–90 °C outlet. Fluid-bed dryer/cooler finishes moisture and cools to packing temperature.

Tower9–12 m Ø × 30–38 m H
Water evaporation4,500–5,000 kg/h
Powder output5,000 kg/h
Energy4.8 GJ/t water
08
Dry zone

Agglomeration & lecithination

Instant-grade only: powder is rewetted, agglomerated to 100–350 μm, sprayed with 0.3–0.5% lecithin for cold-water wettability ≥ 90%/30 s.

Granule size100–350 μm
Lecithin0.3–0.5%
Wettability≥ 90% / 30 s
09
Dry zone

Multi-deck sieving & metal detection

Multi-deck vibrating sieve removes oversize / lumps; in-line metal detector rejects any ferrous / non-ferrous contamination.

Sieve cuts3-deck
Metal detectionFe / non-Fe / SS
10
Finishing zone

Powder silo storage

Nitrogen-blanket SS 316L silos hold 24–48 h of product for lab release before packing.

Silo capacity4 × 20 t
BlanketN₂ < 2% O₂
11
Finishing zone

Final QC & release

Moisture, wettability, solubility, particle size, colour, TPC and pathogen panels. Certificate of Analysis issued per batch.

Moisture≤ 4.0%
Solubility index≤ 1.0 mL
SalmonellaAbsent / 25 g
12
Finishing zone

25 kg bag packing

Multi-wall paper bag with PE liner, N₂ flushed. Auto weighing ±0.1%, seam heat-sealed.

Bag25 kg multi-wall + PE
Speed300–400 bags/h
13
Finishing zone

Retail can & sachet lines

Tin cans (400 g / 900 g / 1.8 kg) and stick sachets — nitrogen flushed for IMF and premium WMP.

Can sizes400 / 900 / 1800 g
O₂ residual< 2%
14
Finishing zone

Palletising & warehouse

Robot palletiser, stretch-hooding, dispatch at 20 ± 2 °C, RH < 60%.

Warehouse temp20 ± 2 °C
RH< 60%
15
Finishing zone

CIP & environmental hygiene

Full CIP loop (pre-rinse → alkali → intermediate rinse → acid → sanitise → final rinse) every 16 h of drying operation, with conductivity + temp verification.

CyclePre-rinse → NaOH 1.5% @75 °C → HNO₃ 1% @70 °C → sanitise
FrequencyEvery 16 h
16
Cream branch

Cream pasteurisation & packing

Split-off cream (40%) is standardised to 18/25/35/40%, pasteurised at 85 °C × 15 s and packed for retail — highest per-litre return of the plant.

Grades18 / 25 / 35 / 40%
Pasteurisation85 °C × 15 s
Shelf life14 days
17
Cream branch

Churning → Butter / AMF / Ghee

Surplus cream is churned to butter (80% fat), fractionated to AMF (99.8%) and clarified to ghee (99.5%). Combined stream ≈ 1,716 t/yr.

Butter (80%)528 t/yr
AMF (99.8%)726 t/yr
Ghee (99.5%)462 t/yr
Revenue≈ 20 M USD
18
Whey branch

Whey UF / NF concentration

Whey stream (from off-take cheese or captive cheese line) is ultrafiltered to concentrate protein (WPC 34–80%) and nano-filtered for lactose recovery.

UF cut-off10 kDa
Protein retentate34–80%
NF permeateLactose recovery
19
Whey branch

Ion-exchange demineralisation

Demineralisation to 40/50/70/90% for the DWP grades — DWP 70 is the key infant-formula ingredient.

DWP 40Bakery
DWP 70IMF Stage 1
DWP 90Medical foods
20
Whey branch

Whey / protein spray drying & pack

Concentrated whey / WPC / DWP / MPC / MPI streams are spray-dried on the shared tower windows and packed in 25 kg bags or retail cans.

Inlet air180–200 °C
Outlet powder80–90 °C
Moisture≤ 4.5%