Share this page

DAIRY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Dairy focused Membrane Processing

Physically separating and selectively concentrating milk components.

Membrane filtration refers to a range of separation technologies used by dairy processors to physically separate and selectively concentrate milk components.

Concentrate milk components include fat globules, caseins, whey proteins, lactose and milk minerals and may also be used for removal of bacteria and bacterial spores, de-fatting of milk and whey, partial demineralisation, as well as concentration of dry matter and recovery of water from product streams.  

Membrane types differ by the material of their fabrication and design (e.g. tubular ceramic or spiral wound polymeric) and on their ability to partition components based on molecular weight cut off (MWCO) or pore size. The most frequently used techniques for membrane processing in the dairy sector include

  • Microfiltration (MF) at pore size 0.08-2 µm used to reduce bacterial numbers and remove spores in cheese milk, or for selective concentration of micellar casein by fractionation of serum proteins and other soluble components
  • Ultrafiltration (UF) a low pressure (<1MPa) process with a  MWCO range of 1-500 kDa, but frequently using 10 kDa such as in the manufacture of milk protein and whey protein fractions, where smaller molecular weight components such as lactose, non-protein nitrogen and soluble minerals selectively permeate through the membrane as a co-product stream to the concentrated retentate
  • Removal of water by Reverse Osmosis (RO) with a MWCO of <150 Da and a pressure of ~ 3 MPa achieving ~ 98 % rejection of NaCl
  • Or by Nanofiltration (NF) with a MWCO of 150-300 Da and a pressure of 2-2.5 MPa and rejection rates of ~ 40-60% for NaCl albeit with a partial depletion or partition of certain ionic species predominantly Na+ , Cl- and K+ during milk concentration. 

Learn more about dairy science & technology

The breadth of issues IDF covers in its work is extensive. Find out more about the work we do.

Dehydration of dairy products

Dehydration is an important operation used by many dairy processors to extend the shelf life of milk...

Read More

Fermented dairy products

Fermentation is a natural way to keep foods fresh and safe throughout shelf life.

Read More

Technology behind cheese making

To make cheese, milk is fermented and concentrated by removal of water through the coagulation of th...

Read More

The milk tree – technology and use

The dairy sector processes raw milk into an array of products and by-products, which have a range of...

Read More

Related reports & publications

IDF provides a permanent source of authoritative scientific and other information on a whole range of topics relevant to the dairy sector.

Related news & insights

IDF provides a permanent source of authoritative scientific and other information on a whole range of topics relevant to the dairy sector.

No news and insights found