Fouling and its control in heat exchangers in the dairy industry

Fouling of heat transfer equipment poses a major problem in the food and especially the dairy industry. A review of recent progress made in the study and understanding of fouling and cleaning mechanisms in relation to exchangers and heat exchange surfaces in contact with milk components is given.The first part describes the different materials and methods used in the study of fouling and cleaning, from laboratory to pilot-plant and industrial scale.The second part concerns the different fouling dynamics observed with milk and dairy products, and gives an interpretation of the different behaviours which occur, on the basis of the most recent results on the composition and structure of the deposits and the biochemical mechanisms of fouling.The last part is a complete review of cleaning of milk deposits, taking into account the chemical reaction approach to cleaning as a mass transfer phenomenon.