World’s largest dairy spray dryer completes its first season
The world’s largest dairy spray dryer has successfully completed its first season. Fonterra’s 30 tonne/hour milk powder plant at Darfield, New Zealand, has been in full operation since being started up in August 2013.
The dryer, Darfield D2, is the second of two at Fonterra’s Darfield milk processing site in New Zealand, and it has the capacity to convert around four and a half million litres of fresh liquid milk into milk powder every day.
Prior to Darfield D2, this capacity could not be achieved by a single dryer. To meet the challenge, all components of the complete process line were examined and optimised, using the latest knowledge within the fields of milk powder and process technology. Next, advanced CFD modelling techniques were applied for the purpose of further optimization and validation of the design for all critical parts.
Darfield D2, commissioned in August 2013 for the beginning of the New Zealand milking season, has worked practically non-stop for the last nine months, and has now concluded its first year of operation. At the peak of the season, the dryer produced more than 700 tonnes of milk powder a day. Richard Gray, Fonterra’s operations manager for the Canterbury region, says, “We saw continued plant performance through the first operational season. Drier 2 at Darfield plays an important role in Fonterra’s strategy to meet the strong demand for dairy nutrition around the world.”
