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ELIMINATION OF POLLUTION FROM COTTAGE CHEESE WHEY BY DRYING AND UTILIZATION
Citation:
Boxer, S. AND R. Bond. ELIMINATION OF POLLUTION FROM COTTAGE CHEESE WHEY BY DRYING AND UTILIZATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-76/254.
Description:
A spray drying process for cottage cheese whey has been demonstrated as a viable method for pollution control from the cheese making industry. The process produces a saleable product consisting of protein lactose sugar and other nutritious ingredients. The product, readily usable for animal feed, has recently been accepted for human consumption. The process was demonstrated by the Dairy Research and Development Corporation in its plant adjacent to the cottage cheese plant of the Dairylea Cooperative at Vernon, NY, at a scale of 500,000 pounds of raw whey per day. The process consists of five major steps, evaporation of the raw whey, crystallization, spray drying, after drying and packaging of the dry powder. Operation of the demonstration plant was successfully concluded after a period of lengthy and troublesome shakedown and start-up. The cottage cheese whey is now converted to a saleable dried product. The technology appears amenable for use in regional service facilities where sufficient cheese whey supplies can justify essential processing facility. The project capital cost for a 500,000 pounds a day (raw whey) plant of minimum size is approximately $3,000,000. The operating cost projection is approximately $450,000 per year based on 9,000,000 pounds a year of dried whey powder. Profitability for this size plant is determined proportionately by the sale of the product to the human food market as against the animal feed market.