Table 1.
Literature on energy consumption and environmental performance of dairy plants
Table 2.
Selected indicators and factors for analysing the energy performance of dairy plants
| Indicators and factors for analysing energy performance | Unit of measure | Type of plant/production profile/product | Indicators | Source | ||
| Range according to Fig. 2 | Mean | Interval/season | ||||
| Electric energy consumption | kWh/m3 of raw milk | Total production | WZ | 90 | 10 – 680 | WS Atkins [1998] |
| kWh/m3 of milk | Milk powder, cheese, butter, yogurt, dairy desserts | 27 | - | Budny & Weiss [2000] | ||
| Cheese, tvorog, yogurt, dairy desserts | 32 | - | ||||
| Cheese, butter, yogurt, dairy desserts | - | 34 – 52 | ||||
| Butter, milk powder, yogurt, dairy desserts | - | 53 – 57 | ||||
| Cheese, milk powder, butter | 64 | |||||
| Cheese, butter | 65 | |||||
| Yogurt, dairy desserts, tvorog, butter | 66 | |||||
| kWh/m3 of milk | Cheese | WT | - | 2.9 – 6.6 | ||
| kWh/Mg of butter | Butter (continuous method) | - | 12.9 – 17.0 | |||
| kWh/Mg of milk | Milk processing output (based a study of three dairy plants) | WZ | - | 30 – 80 | Boutaghriou et al. [2016] | |
| kWh/Mg of end product | Milk powder | WZ | 429.9 | 377.0 – 482.9 | Budny et al. [1984a] | |
| Heat consumption | GJ/m3 of raw milk | Total production | WZ | 2.01 | 0.12 – 14 | WS Atkins [1998] |
| MJ/m3 of processed milk | Milk powder, cheese, butter, yogurt, dairy desserts | 1348 | - | Budny & Weiss [2000] | ||
| Cheese, tvorog, yogurt, dairy desserts | 1439 | - | ||||
| Cheese, butter, yogurt, dairy desserts | - | 1583 – 2380 | ||||
| Butter, milk powder, yogurt, dairy desserts | - | 2733 – 3171 | ||||
| Cheese, milk powder, butter | 2882 | - | ||||
| Cheese, butter | 1884 | - | ||||
| Yogurt, dairy desserts, tvorog, butter | 2698 | - | ||||
| GJ/Mg of evaporated water | Spray-drying | WA | 4.87 | 3 – 20 | Baker & McKenzie [2005] | |
| GJ/Mg of processed milk | Modern dairy plants with heat recovery systems | WZ | 0.34 | - | Bosworth et al. [2001] | |
| Modern plants where hot water is used as an energy carrier | 0.50 | - | ||||
| Older plants where steam is used as an energy carrier | 2.00 | - | ||||
| Total energy consumption | MWh/Mg of milk powder | Milk powder (mechanical vapor recompression, MVR) | WP | 3.08 | - | Bühler et al. [2019] |
| GJ/Mg of product | Milk powder | WZ | 29.95 | 26.41–33.49 | Budny et al. [1984a] | |
| MWh/Mg of dry product | Spray-drying of cheese whey | WA | 2.049 | - | Domínguez-Niño et al. [2018] | |
| Fuel gas | kWh/Mg of milk | Total production (based on a study of three production plants) | WZ | - | 100 – 220 | Boutaghriou et al. [2016] |
| Total energy consumption | GJ/m3 of processed milk* | Milk, tvorog (based on a study of a selected dairy plant) | - | 3.04 | 1.93 – 2.47 Summer | Wojdalski et al. [2007] |
| 3.63 – 4.19 Winter | ||||||
| GJ/m3 of processed milk** | WZ | 2.46 | 1.40 –1.96 Summer | |||
| 3.04 – 3.55 Winter | ||||||
| Total energy consumption | kWh/kg of evaporated water | Three-phase evaporator | WA | 0.14 | - | Prasad et al. [2004] |
| Five-phase evaporator | 0.085 | - | Prasad et al. [2004] | |||
| Total energy consumption expressed in fuel equivalents | kg of fuel equivalent/m3 of processed milk* | Milk, tvorog (based on a study of a selected dairy plant) | WZ | 104 | 66 – 84 Summer | Wojdalski et al. [2007] |
| 124 –143 Winter | ||||||
| kg of fuel equivalent/m3 of processed milk** | 84 | 48 – 67 Summer | ||||
| 103–121 Winter | ||||||
| Energy consumption in wastewater treatment | kWh/kg BOD5 | Total production | WT | - | 0.89 – 3.22 | Kowalczyk & Karp [2005] |
| kWh/m3 of wastewater | - | 1.94 – 6.32 | ||||
| SO2 emissions | kg/m3 of raw milk | Total production | WZ | 1.65 | 0.05 – 22.4 | WS Atkins [1998] |
| kg/m3 of processed milk | - | 0.83 | - | Wojdalski et al. [2007] | ||
| NOx emissions | kg/m3 of raw milk | Total production | WZ | 0.49 | 0.03 – 6.4 | WS Atkins [1998] |
| kg/m3 of processed milk | - | 0.60 | - | Wojdalski et al. [2007] | ||
| CO2 emissions | kg/m3 of raw milk | Total production | WZ | 1.97 | 0.01 – 9.23 | WS Atkins [1998] |
| kg/m3 of processed milk | 1.25 | - | Wojdalski et al. [2007] | |||
| Carbon footprint of end products | kg CO2eq/kg of butter | Butter | WZ | 8.1 | - | Flysjö et al. [2014] |
| kg CO2eq/kg of milk powder | Milk powder | 7.4 | - | |||
| kg CO2eq/kg of cheese | Cheese | 6.5 | - | |||
| kg CO2eq/kg of dairy beverage | Dairy beverages | 1.2 | - | |||
| Particulate-matter emissions | kg/m3 of raw milk | Total production | 1.3 | 0.01 –14.4 | WS Atkins [1998] | |
| kg/m3 of processed milk | Total production | WZ | 1.15 | - | Wojdalski et al. [2007] | |
| Black carbon emissions | kg/m3 of raw milk | Total production | WZ | 19 | 0.01 – 193 | WS Atkins [1998] |
| kg/m3 of processed milk | Total production | - | 0.04 | - | Wojdalski et al. [2007] | |

Figure 1.
Energy and water consumption in a dairy plant (detailed explanations in the text)

Figure 2.
Indicators of energy consumption per unit of end product in a dairy plant (detailed explanations are in the text)
Table 3.
Structure of energy consumption in the analysed dairy plant
| Process/operation | [kJ/Mg of milk] | Percent share [%] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | Direct fuel consumption | Refrigeration | Other machines and devices | Total | ||
| End product storage | - | - | 41,868 | - | 41,868 | 9.46 |
| Packing | - | 3,489 | - | - | 3,489 | 0.71 |
| Storage before packing | - | - | 20,934 | - | 20,934 | 4.73 |
| Deodorissation | 5,815 | - | - | - | 5,815 | 1.32 |
| Cooling | - | - | 19,771 | - | 19,771 | 4.47 |
| Homogenisation | - | - | - | 2,326 | 2,326 | 0.53 |
| Pasteurisation | 213,992 | - | - | - | 213,992 | 48.30 |
| Separation | - | - | - | 41,868 | 41,868 | 9.46 |
| Clarification/Standardisation | - | - | - | 20,934 | 20,934 | 4.73 |
| Reception and Storage | - | 30,238 | 41,868 | - | 72,106 | 16.29 |
| Total | 219,807 | 33,727 | 124,441 | 65,128 | 443,103 | 100 |
[i] Source: Brush et al. [2011] (based on Sikirica et al. [2003])
Table 4.
Types of examined dairy plants
| Type | Production profile |
|---|---|
| T1 | Milk, dairy beverages, cream, tvorog, cheese, butter, casein, milk powder |
| T2 | Identical to T1 plants, excluding milk powder |
| T3 | Identical to T1 plants, excluding milk, dairy beverages, cream, and tvorog |
| T4 | Milk, dairy beverages, cream, and tvorog only |
Table 5.
Factors that influence energy consumption in dairy production
| Group of factors | Measured parameters | Symbols* |
|---|---|---|
| FR1 | Basic operating parameters and process automation | Km, Kp1, Kp2, N1, N2, P, Uen1, Uen2, Z, Zm, Z4d |
| FR2 | Production profile** | Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5, Z6, Z7, Z8, Z9, Z10, Z11, Z12, Z13, Z14, Z15, Z16, Z17, Z18, Z19, Z20, Z21, Z22, Z23 |
| FR3 | Technical equipment | P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8 |
Table 6.
General characteristics of the analysed types of dairy plants in summer and winter
| FR1 | Type of plant (Summer) | Type of plant (Winter) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | |
| Kp1 | 0.59 – 3.10 | 0.36 – 5.66 | 0.54 – 3.10 | 0.62 – 2.42 | 0.32 – 2.90 | 0.22 – 2.99 | 0.25 – 2.90 | 0.40 – 1.16 |
| Kp2 | 0.35 – 1.33 | 0.23 – 3.54 | 0.30 – 2.13 | 0.14 – 0.82 | 0.19 – 1.18 | 0.13 – 2.46 | 0.13 – 1.35 | 0.18 – 0.90 |
| Uen1 | 3.52 – 17.74 | 3.93 – 40.46 | 5.30 – 31.67 | 1.13 – 21.40 | 4.13 – 17.74 | 1.16 – 39.55 | 1.17 – 17.74 | 2.26 – 13.53 |
| Uen2 | 2.43 – 12.91 | 1.26 – 23.75 | 3.06 – 23.75 | 0.49 – 8.93 | 0.70 – 13.16 | 1.02 – 32.41 | 1.08 – 11.92 | 1.31 – 8.77 |
| Km | 3.74 – 13.69 | 2.63 – 28.79 | 4.02 – 28.79 | 0.99 – 24.66 | 1.76 – 24.66 | 1.99 – 34.33 | 1.99 – 32.26 | 3.38 – 24.64 |
Table 7.
Influence of the daily production profile and the installed capacity of electrical devices on energy consumption in T1 dairy plants (producing milk powder)
| Season | Total installed capacity P [kW] | Average energy consumption | Average energy consumption per unit of end product | Multiple regression equation | Coefficient of determination R2 | Range of variation in independent variables | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ae [kWh/24h] | Ac [GJ/24h] | We [kWh/1000 L] | Wc [GJ/1000 L] | |||||
| S | 454.0 – 2,421.7 (21) | 7,682.1 | 432.650 | 41.73 | 2.3207 | Ae = 3944.70 + 37.110 Z4 | 0.568 | Z4:19.0 – 335.8 |
| Ac = 134.293 + 0.546P2 + 0.760P4 | 0.789 |
| ||||||
| Ac = 140.56 + 2.433Z4 + 1.977Z5 + 0.815 Z8 | 0.834 |
| ||||||
| W | 318.0–2,548.0 (19) | 6,246.0 | 396.632 | 52.70 | 3.4125 | Ae = 4289.00 + 41.401Z4 for Wc R2 < 0.20 | 0.502 | Z4: 10.4 –282.7 |
| Ac = 83.369 + 0.530P2 + 0.644P4 + 0.857P10 for Wc R2 < 0.34 | 0.846 |
| ||||||
| Ac = 246.86 + 3.168 Z4 | 0.546 | Z4: 10.4 – 282.7 | ||||||
Table 8.
Influence of the daily production profile and the installed capacity of electrical devices on energy consumption in T2 dairy plants (not producing milk powder)
| Season | Total installed capacity P [kW] | Average energy consumption | Average energy consumption per unit of end product | Multiple regression equation | Coefficient of determination R2 | Range of variation in independent variables | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ae [kWh/24h] | Ac [GJ/24h] | We [kWh/1000 L] | Wc [GJ/1000 L] | |||||
| S | 83.0 – 2,935.0 (37) | 3,289.9 | 118.909 | 39.52 | 1.3607 | Ae= 748.34 + 60.1453Z1 + 39.4929Z3 + 22.079Z5 + 75.286Z8 for We R2 < 0.32 | 0.442 |
|
| Ac= 1.152 + 0.310P1 + 1.266P2 + 1.082P6 for Wc R2 < 0.37 | 0.860 |
| ||||||
| Ac= 18.295 + 1.501Z1 + 1.748Z2 + 0.990Z3 +1.006 Z5 −5.385 Z7 + 5.265 Z8 | 0.830 |
| ||||||
| W | 30.3 – 1,938.0 (24) | 2129.3 | 120.581 | 39.92 | 2.4672 | Ae = 864.92 + 94.4138Z2 + 104.032Z8 for We R2 < 0.20 | 0.603 |
|
| Ac = −4.109+0.364P1 +0.989P2+ 1.080P7 + 0.191P10 for Wc R2 < 0.33 | 0.896 |
| ||||||
| Ac = 26.259+2.981Z1 +2.492Z3 + 15.157Z7 + 6.733Z8 | 0.693 |
| ||||||
Table 9.
Influence of the daily production profile and the installed capacity of electrical devices on energy consumption in T3 dairy plants (not producing milk, dairy beverages or tvorog)
| Season | Total installed capacity P [kW] | Average energy consumption | Average energy consumption per unit of end product | Multiple regression equation | Coefficient of determination R2 | Range of variation in independent variables | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ae [kWh/24h] | Ac [GJ/24h] | We [kWh/1000 L] | Wc [GJ/1000 L] | |||||
| S | 83.0 – 1,923.0 (22) | 3,079.5 | 148.151 | 37.83 | 1.5542 | Ae = 953.19 + 29.707Z4 + 430.898Z6 | 0.932 |
|
| We = 42.633 - 0.481Z5 | 0.346 | Z5: 0 – 80.3 | ||||||
| Ac = −36.781 + 0.607P1 - 0.523P3 + 1.037P4 + 0.968P6 + 5.555P10 | 0.990 |
| ||||||
| Wc = 1.476 + 0.001P4 - 0.012P6+0.013P10 | 0.662 | |||||||
| Ac = 41.899 - 0.964Z3 + 2.204Z4 + 15.219Z6 | 0.971 |
| ||||||
| Wc = 1.6316-0.006Z3 + 0.003Z4 - 0.013Z5 | 0.608 | |||||||
| W | 30.3 – 1,938.0 (20) | 3,548.8 | 230.243 | 42.82 | 2.9086 |
|
|
|
| Ac = 1.145 + 0.444P1 + 0.936P4 + 1.275P7 | 0.985 |
| ||||||
| Wc = 2.2652 + 0.028P7 | 0.627 | |||||||
| Ac = 117.423 + 62.187Z6 | 0.399 | Z6: 0 – 7.9 | ||||||
| Wc = 2,3795 + 0.291Z6 | 0.563 | |||||||
Table 10.
Influence of the daily production profile and the installed capacity of electrical devices on energy consumption in T4 dairy plants (producing only milk, dairy beverages, tvorog, and, in some cases, also butter)
| Season | Total installed capacity P [kW] | Average energy consumption | Average energy consumption per unit of end product | Multiple regression equation | Coefficient of determination R2 | Range of variation in independent variables | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ae [kWh /24h] | Ac [GJ/24h] | We [kWh/1000 L] | Wc [GJ/1000 L] | |||||
| S | 50.0 – 2,385.0 (34) | 2,374.1 | 59.305 | 32.13 | 1.0882 | Ae = 559.42 + 29.374Z1 | 0.834 | Z1: 2.5 – 80.6 |
| Ae =345.63 + 4.420P1 + 18.787P2 | 0.950 |
| ||||||
| Ac = 18.658 + 0.460 Z1 + 1.766Z2 | 0.849 |
| ||||||
| W | 63.0 – 646.0 (24) | 1,081.4 | 52.366 | 30.70 | 1.7502 | Ae = 358.08 + 35.352Z1 | 0.672 | Z1: 1.0 – 59.1 |
| Ae = 463.75 + 6.235P3 | 0.429 | P3: 6.0 – 250.0 | ||||||
| Ac = −0.121 + 0.531P1 − 1.899P7 | 0.811 |
| ||||||
| Ac = 30.777 + 1.054Z1 | 0.441 | Z1: 1.0 – 59.1 | ||||||

Figure 3.
The influence of the production profile on electric energy and heat consumption (summer)

Figure 4.
The influence of the production profile on electric energy and heat consumption (winter)

Figure 5.
The influence of the installed capacity of electrical devices on electric energy and heat consumption (summer)

Figure 6.
The influence of the installed capacity of electrical devices on electric energy and heat consumption (winter)

Figure 7a.
Variation in the indicators of heat consumption per unit of end product in the different types of dairy plants analysed

Figure 7b.
Thermal efficiency (EEtherm) in the different types of dairy plants analysed

Figure 8a.
Variation in the indicators of electric energy consumption per unit of end product in the different types of dairy plants analysed

Figure 8b.
Electric energy efficiency (EEel) in the different types of dairy plants analysed
Table 11.
Technological factors influencing energy demand in selected dairy plants
| Dairy plant specification | Average electric energy consumption | Season | Regression equations | Correlation coefficient r | Independent variables’ range of variation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ae = 488731.7 kWh/month | S/W | Ae = 38530 + 21.93Zm | 0.917 | Zm: 4,058.9 – 6348.8 m3/month |
| We = 104.9 kWh/1000L | We = 178.6 - 0.019Zm | −0.982 | |||
| Ae = 1842461 kWh/month | S/W | Ae = 80.184 - 74908Zm | 0.63 |
|
| Ae = 155.75·Z11+84.68·Z12 - 573.45·Z13–11.36·Z14+232.33·Z15 + 139383.53 | 0.72 | ||||
| We = 77.0 kWh/1000 L | We = 0.0002 Zm + 72.558 | Weak correlation | |||
| We = 3∙10−3 Z11 + 7∙10−3·Z12 - 0.017·Z13 - 0.025·Z14 + 3∙10−3·Z16 + 36.5 | 0.31 | ||||
| Ac = 17060.39 GJ/month | Ac = 0.0946Zm + 14799 | Weak correlation | |||
| Ac= −1.49·Z11 - 1.33·Z12 + 3.46·Z13 + 5.84·Z14 + 3.93·Z15 + 16572.40 | 0.65 | ||||
| Wc = 0.71 GJ/1000 L | Wc= −3E-05Zm + 1.3441 | 0.47 | |||
| Wc = −1∙105·Z11 - 3∙105·Z12 + 2∙104·Z13 + 7∙10−6 ·Z14 + 1∙10−5 ·Z15 + 0.99 | 0.83 | ||||
| Ae = 101,516 kWh/month | S/W | Ae = 16.039 Zm + 37632 | 0.741 |
|
| Ae = 0.17·Z16 + 3.38·Z17 + 0.32·Z18 - 0.70·Z19 + 1.62·Z20 + 0.48·Z21 + 0.08·Z22 - 0.84·Z23 - 15048.70 | 0.984 | ||||
| We = 25.94 kWh/1000 L | We = −0.0025 Zm + 35.795 | 0.526 | |||
| We = 5∙10−6 ·Z16 - 0.002·Z17 + 4∙10−6·Z18 - 0.001·Z19 - 0.004·Z20 + 4∙10−6 ·Z21 + 2∙10−6·Z22 + 0.002·Z23 + 59.29 | 0.905 | ||||
| Ae = 10,681 kWh/4d | S/W | Ae = 84.71Z4d - 4676.82 | 0.675 | Z4d: 173,430 – 192,500 L/4d |
| We = 58.87 kWh/m3 | We = 0.1479Z4d + 31.75 | 0.285 | |||
| Ac = 56.93 GJ/4d | Ac = 0.6966Z4d - 69.36 | 0.719 | |||
| Wc = 313.56 MJ/m3 | Wc = 2.00 Z4d - 48.81 | 0.482 |

Figure 9.
Winter increase in heat consumption per unit of end product in the types of dairy plants analysed, relative to the summer season