A novel use of evaporation using heat exchanger technology from HRS Heat Exchangers, Hertfordshire, England, increased drying capacity for a major European processor of cheese products. The company takes out-of-specification cheese offerings from production sites across Europe and converts them into high-quality protein for use in pet food and animal feed. The cheese is pasteurized and then dried to produce a powdered additive.
When the processor wanted to increase production capacity, its first thought was to install an additional dryer — an expensive and energy-intensive solution. However, because the capacity of the dryer is determined by the amount of water it can remove per hour, another way to increase overall throughput is to reduce the water content of the cheese products before drying so a larger volume can be dried at one time.