Stainless steel plant construction for milk processing
If the food product doesn't arrive at the bottling line in the desired quality, it's rarely due to the recipe – but almost always to the processing method and the influence of the pipeline layout and access. Dairy processing, especially in pipeline design, is unforgiving of mechanical errors. Aggressive whey, vibrations, and the strictest hygiene requirements make plant construction in dairies a matter of precision. STW GmbH manufactures stainless steel skids and piping systems that protect your media, minimize product losses, and offer no surface for deposits to adhere to, thus ensuring excellent cleanability and pigging capability.
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Product protection and loss-free pigging technology
The consistency of dairy products is extremely sensitive. Every sharp edge and every poorly executed weld in the pipe network poses a risk to the final product and therefore also to the economic viability of the plant.
Preservation of delicate textures: The fruit pieces should arrive in the yogurt in the desired size and appearance. Any point of friction destroys the structure or changes the shape.
Efficient product recovery: The pig pushes out valuable media such as fruit puree, minimizing product loss. This allows the pipes to be flushed cleanly without residue. If welds inside the pipe are too prominent, a mechanical shearing effect occurs at these constrictions. In the worst case, this negatively affects the product's consistency and appearance, or causes the pig to wear out very quickly, resulting in high operating costs.
Aseptic safety: No compromises at the valve node
Aseptic double-seat valves are the cornerstone of microbiological safety in dairies. However, these sensitive components are extremely sensitive to mechanical stress. If the connected pipes are installed under tension, the valve body warps, causing the valve to jam, leak, or the top part to become impossible to reinstall after maintenance.
Stress-free manifolds:
Instead of welding in standard T-pieces, we selectively neck out manifold pipes ourselves. This technique reduces welds and thus thermal stress, enabling a stress-free, durable construction of complex valve junctions.
Tangential pipe exits using a pipe laser:
For flow-optimized installations, our tube laser enables highly precise cutting geometries; for example, in ring mains, we use tangential T-pieces with 45° outlets, which we manufacture ourselves.
Controlled welding sequence:
Thermal preload is controlled through proper preparation, consideration of all framework conditions and the correct work sequence during welding, in order to minimize distortion of the assembly from the outset.
Prevent stuck valves by using stress-reduced manufactured piping systems.
Learn more about our tube laser technology.
Resistance to whey, protein and vibrations
Dairy processes place immense demands on stainless steel. Whether it's mechanical stress from pressure and temperature fluctuations or chemical stress from the product and cleaning – the processing quality must be uncompromising.
Protection against vibrations
High-pressure homogenizers transmit extreme vibrations to the pipe network. Our support and frame construction follows the principle of "as much as necessary, as little as possible" to ensure cost-effective construction and minimize ongoing maintenance, such as external cleaning. We exclusively use closed round or square profiles without open contours or undercuts where dirt could accumulate.
Prevention of pitting corrosion
Aggressive media can attack even high-quality V4A stainless steel if it is not processed correctly. We counter this risk through meticulous weld preparation, consistent forming during welding, and precise post-treatment of temper colors.
Prevention of milk protein scorching
To prevent, for example, milk protein from burning onto rough surfaces in heating systems, welds are consistently inspected for quality and, upon customer request, fully documented.
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FAQ: Frequently asked questions about plant construction in milk processing
The pigging process primarily serves to recover product (e.g., from cream or fruit). A raised weld seam acts as a barrier. It slows down the pigging process, causes significant wear on the pigging lips, and creates a shearing effect that, in the worst case, negatively impacts the product and prevents the desired filling quality from being achieved.
Aseptic valves are subject to high temperatures during production, cleaning, and sterilization. If the pipe network is installed under mechanical stress or if the temperature influences are not taken into account, this stress is transferred to the valve body and causes it to warp. STW reduces this thermal pre-stress by using self-flawed manifolds and ensures stress-free installation.
Chemically aggressive media such as saline whey attack V4A stainless steel at weak points. STW protects the system through expert processing: clean weld preparation, consistent forming during the welding process, and meticulous post-weld finishing.