Tetra Pak unveils whey filtration system for dairy manufacturers

Tetra Pak, a Swedish food processing and packaging solutions provider, has unveiled a new whey filtration system, Tetra Alcross RO Lite.

Whey is a common by-product of cheese production and it is often dumped as waste.

The by-product is valuable only when it is concentrated; however, the filtration technology required for this tends to be highly customised and too costly for small and medium sized dairies.

Available in five different sizes from 50,000 to 300,000 litres/day, the Tetra Alcross RO Lite is a standardised filtration solution, which is easy to install and costs about 30% less compared with the customised alternatives, according to Tetra Pak.

The system incorporates a process of continuous reverse osmosis filtration to remove excess water from the whey, tripling its concentration while retaining all of the dissolved salts, lactose, acids, proteins, fats and bacteria.

This concentrated whey can be supplied to food processors for use as an ingredient in a wide range of products, providing an income stream to the dairy, while significantly reducing unnecessary transportation and waste handling costs.

Tetra Pak Food Category Cheese director Jaco Baron said, "This cost-effective whey filtration solution helps small and medium sized dairies compete on more even footing with larger dairies while also improving their profitability and decreasing their environmental footprint."

Reverse osmosis is a high-pressure-membrane process designed to concentrate and de-water streams using pump energy.

The Tetra Alcross RO Lite process uses spiral-wound RO membrane elements to separate the feed into two streams – retentate and permeate.

The reverse osmosis membrane allows water to pass through it during the concentration process, while retaining the solids in the feed.

During the process, pressure is applied to overcome the osmotic pressure of the solids in the feed/retentate and to drive water through the membrane.

Fully controlled from a human-machine interface (HMI) via a touch screen, the Tetra Alcross RO Lite unit can be connected to any other supervision control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.

The HMI is used for monitoring the unit, activating functions, setting parameters and alarm handling.

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Image: The Tetra Alcross RO Lite incorporates a continuous reverse osmosis filtration process to remove excess water from the whey. Photo courtesy of Tetra Pak International SA.