Aljosa Trmcic
Last November (Nov. 2nd-5th, 2021), Chicago was the host of Process Expo 2021, a trade show that brought together food and beverage processors, equipment manufacturers, and other companies that offer useful solutions to the Food Industry. The Milk Quality Improvement Program was there as part of their constant mission to identify new dairy technologies and assist dairy processors in evaluating the efficacy and value of these innovations.
There were a number of different equipment manufacturers exhibiting at the show that manufacture drains, pumps, valves, and other equipment that can be considered more traditional types of technologies. It was very positive to see that even within this more traditional technology arena, manufacturers are still working on further developing and improving the equipment. For example, one company introduced a centrifugal pump with new patented impellers that minimizes sheer and increases performance. Another company introduced innovations in drain shape and installation design that improves the longevity of drains and floors by minimizing the stress on both the drain and the floor during temperature fluctuations in the processing environment. There were also a number of innovations applied to these traditional pieces of equipment that improve the sanitary design and also makes them more user friendly.
When it comes to the dairy industry, heat exchangers would probably be considered the most traditional pieces of equipment and even here manufacturers were able to present some innovative designs. First one being an innovation in how heat exchanger plates are compressed together into the final press to eliminate long horizontal rods that can be found protruding into the space on some of the older plate heat exchangers. In addition, they also introduced improvements to labeling and design of the plates to prevent incorrect assembly and modifying the inlet portion of the plates to increase the distribution of the product across the plates and increase the efficiency of the heat exchanger. Another exhibitor also introduced improvements to efficiency of their tubular heat exchangers by introducing corrugation to the tubes in the heat exchanger which is a concept that can already be seen in plate heat exchanger siblings. Aside of these minor innovations introduced to different heat exchangers we are still to see if any new technology will ever replace this traditional piece of equipment that for so long has provided the dairy industry with the means to deliver that very important kill step and assure dairy products are safe.
The last large segment that needs to be mentioned is technology that relates to cleaning and sanitation. Almost all exhibitors at the trade show presented some innovation that relates to cleaning and sanitation, new sanitary design, or cleaning and sanitation equipment and chemicals. These innovations are probably also the one type of innovation that processors are exposed to the most through direct advertisement form the manufacturers inside and outside of the trade show. Although proper cleaning and sanitation is one of the most important aspects of making food, we will not go into details about what these numerous innovations are. We will maybe only mention one piece of technology that caught our eye. This technology utilizes, maybe the long forgotten, power of steam to clean and disinfect food surfaces. One application of steam, that is relevant in the era of FSMA and environmental monitoring, involves a simple rubber boot attached to a steam generator that can be used to treat drains and potentially inactivate pathogens. After seeing so many root-cause analyses of environmental monitoring activities pointing to old and pitted drains as the harborage points, this simple piece of equipment just might be that little innovation that can protect our product, customers and our business from environmental pathogens; that is until we do the right thing and fix those floors and drains.
New technologies are an important component in satisfying the demand for dairy products and dairy ingredients, but these technologies need to be safe, effective, and promising for companies to invest in the implementation of these new solutions. The Milk Quality Improvement Program is continuously searching for new technologies that might be of interest to the dairy industry and evaluating them to be able to give better insight into how realistic, effective, and worthwhile these specific technologies are.
Is your business being approached by companies selling tempting new technologies, but your team isn’t sure if the investment is worth it? Our Milk Quality Improvement Program is assisting dairy processors with this question. We are seeking input on which emerging processing technologies are of interest to dairy processors to help evaluate the efficacy and value of these advancements. You can share your thoughts with us by emailing Aljosa Trmcic at at543@cornell.edu or Rob Ralyea at rdr10@cornell.edu.
