How to Calculate Rate of Water Removal in the Production of Evaporated Milk

Question:

Evaporated milk is produced by evaporating 2% partially skim milk at 8.5% milk solids in an evaporator. The final product has 30% milk solids. What is the rate of water removal if evaporated milk is produced at a rate of 500 kg/h?

Answer:

The rate of water removal in the production of evaporated milk at a rate of 500 kg/h is 392.5 kg/h.

Evaporated milk is produced by evaporating water from partially skim milk. In this case, the initial milk has a milk solids content of 8.5% and a water content of 91.5%. The final product of evaporated milk has a milk solids content of 30%.

To calculate the rate of water removal, we need to consider the change in milk solids content and the rate of production. Let's assume the rate of production is 500 kg/h.

First, we need to determine the amount of milk solids in the initial milk and the final product. For the initial milk, the amount of milk solids is 8.5% of the total weight, which is 0.085 * 500 kg = 42.5 kg. For the final product, the amount of milk solids is 30% of the total weight, which is 0.3 * 500 kg = 150 kg.

The difference in milk solids content between the initial milk and the final product is 150 kg - 42.5 kg = 107.5 kg.

Since the water content is the difference between the total weight and the milk solids content, the amount of water removed is 500 kg - 107.5 kg = 392.5 kg.

Therefore, the rate of water removal is 392.5 kg/h.