Dairy Industry

Categories: Systems for Industrial Waste Waters, Solutions for Municipal Plants

Dairy Industry Solutions by ESMIL

Esmil Process Systems delivers engineered solutions for wastewater treatment, water and product recovery, and dairy processing. Our mission is to help dairies achieve higher efficiency, lower operating costs, and full resource recovery turning effluents and by-products into value.

With decades of experience in the treatment technologies, worldwide installations and fabrication facilities in Europe, we provide custom-built systems and containerised modular units, designed for longevity and operational flexibility.

Next-Generation Technologies

VSEP – Vibratory Shear Enhanced Process: A revolutionary alternative to conventional spiral-wound membranes, VSEP utilises vibrational shear to reduce fouling and increase flux. It allows processing of highly concentrated or viscous dairy streams, and may be effectively used for acid whey valorisation.

Superfiltration with Zwitterionic Membranes: Our latest innovation offers exceptional resistance to protein and fat fouling, maintaining stable flux over extended periods. Zwitterionic coatings create a neutral, hydrophilic surface that repels both positive and negative contaminants, making them ideal for milk, whey, and other dairy products. This reduces cleaning frequency, extends membrane life, and improves product consistency.

Containerised System – Flexible and Efficient

Esmil also offers containerised units for both pilot and full-scale operation. These plug-and-play systems reduce installation time, cost, and footprint. Modular design is ideal for rapid plant upgrades if needed. All containerised solutions come fully assembled, tested, and equipped for remote monitoring and control.

Benefits of working with Esmil

Proven solutions for COD/BOD reduction, FOG removal, and nutrient recovery combining conventional and modern technologies to achieve the best efficiency and lower CAPEX.
Water and product recovery for reduced freshwater consumption with lowest OPEX.
Custom design and lab/pilot validation to fit every site.
High reliability and automation with local support.
Fast mobilisation and optional containerised plants.

Partner with Us for Dairy Excellence

ESMIL Process Systems is your strategic partner in achieving dairy excellence. Our solutions not only optimize dairy production but also contribute to sustainability, quality, and innovation in the dairy industry.

We provide full after-sales service, preventive maintenance, and system upgrades to ensure continued reliability and compliance. Our engineers are always available to help customers reduce energy use, enhance sustainability, and meet performance targets.

To learn more about our Dairy Industry Solutions and how they can benefit your dairy operation, please contact us or visit our Reference Page to explore successful applications of our technologies in the dairy sector.

Wastewater Treatment and Water Recovery

We specialise in customised system design, combining conventional equipment with membrane technologies to achieve superior results even in the toughest applications. Esmil systems are engineered to remove high organic loads, fats, suspended solids, and salts, while recovering clean water suitable for reuse with the optimised CAPEX and OPEX.

Typical process stages include:

Mechanical screening – coarse solids removal for upstream protection;
Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) – separation of fats, oils, and grease (FOG);
Media and cartridge filtration (optional) – fine particle removal;
Superfiltration (SF) / Ultrafiltration (UF) / Nanofiltration (NF) / Reverse Osmosis (RO) /
Electrodeionisation (EDI);
Dewatering (Multi-Disc technology) – compact, energy-efficient sludge reduction.

Typical Benefits

High COD removal, regulatory compliance
Special fouling resistant membranes
Reduced cleaning frequency and OPEX
High level of water recovery for reuse and discharge
Selective extraction of valuable by-products for commercial sale

Dairy Processing Solutions

Esmil applies its membrane expertise beyond wastewater, offering solutions for milk and whey concentration, protein fractionation, lactose reduction, and water recovery from process streams. Our systems use MF, UF, SF, NF, RO, and EDI technologies configured to maximise yield, maintain product purity, and ensure gentle treatment of valuable dairy components.

Applications include Extended Shelf Life (ESL) and low bacterial count milk, permeate powder, liquid permeate, demineralised and hydrolysed permeate syrups, MPC, MPI, WPC, WPI, MCC, and MCI production.

ESMIL design, engineer, construct and instal specialised membrane systems to cater for the four major value chains in the dairy industry:

Isolation and concentration of both milk and whey products
Isolation and concentration of lactose and proteins
Milk and brine stabilisation and clarification
Permeate recovery for re-use

Different membrane application techniques are utilised to meet customer requirements as depicted in Table below.

Typical Dairy Industry Membrane System Applications

Membrane Type	Molecular Cut-off	Principle of Operation	Dairy Application
Microfiltration	> 200 kDa	LP (< 2,0 bar)	Skim milk Dextrose Clarification Bacterial removal
Ultrafiltration / Superfiltration	1 – 200 kDa	MP (< 10 bar)	Milk standardisation Reduction of Ca, lactose Concentration of whey, protein & milk
Nanofiltration	300 – 1 kDa	MP (5 – 40 bar)	De-brining of whey Lactose isolation
Reverse Osmosis	100 Da	HP (10 – 100 bar)	Volume reduction Water recovery Solids concentration

Membrane System Whey Processing Case

Typical Benefits

Producers get better pricing
Reduced hauling costs
Value added milk products
More consistent product all year round
Improved plant efficiency and lower unit costs
Less whey to dispose, reduced effluent costs

Examples of Value Adds

Rennet casein precipitate wash water is treated with NF to recover casein solids
Cheese brines are treated using MF/UF to reduce bacterial load without affecting the chemical composition or the organo-leptic qualities of the brine
White, flush and pre-rinse waters are treated with a combination of UF/NF/RO treatments dependant on final water specifications. Solids recovered in the retentates of these processes are either recycled back into the process, or used as a component of animal feeds
Acidic & alkaline CIP streams can be regenerated normally with NF or UF membrane systems
recovery and separation of α and β lactoglobulin proteins from whey using UF membrane processes (WPI). These proteins are used in the manufacture of high value add downstream products (infant milk formulae, protein hydrolysates for the food industry).