Trade press release

Advanced design from GEA for Saudi Arabia’s most modern dairy processing plant

19 Jul 2018

GEA has worked with Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia to build the nation’s largest and most modern dairy processing facility. The new plant at Al Kharj includes multiple production lines for a wide range of milk and yoghurt products. It has the capacity to process two million liters of milk a day. The project has already been successfully completed and the plant is in operation.

The Almarai plant at Al Kharj in Saudi Arabia

The Almarai plant at Al Kharj in Saudi Arabia: the nation’s largest and most modern dairy processing facility. (Source: Almarai/GEA)

Valve cluster installations

GEA valve cluster installations at the Almarai plant at Al Kharj (Source: Almarai/GEA)

Key features of the plant at Al Kharj include GEA separators with integrated direct drive that have fewer moving parts and so reduce friction losses. They also use asynchronous motors that are extremely robust for maximum machine availability. To reduce the environmental impact and energy consumption, the plant is equipped with GEA’s latest energy recovery technology.  

Furthermore, GEA has built in the latest control systems and operating protocols in line with Industry 4.0.  These include the interoperability of the equipment, the transparency of information, autonomous decision making where possible and the highest level of technical assistance. GEA’s Management Execution System captures data such as KPIs and utilization levels to allow comprehensive monitoring of the entire plant operations and energy usage. The plant also features end-to-end track and trace for ultimate quality control and a plant-wide uninterruptable power supply.

Torben Jul Jensen, Regional Sales Director for Dairy, Beverage and Food solutions at GEA Middle East, said that despite GEA’s experience in building similar dairy plants worldwide, the Al Kharj plant did pose some specific challenges, especially in the final commissioning phase.  “However, everyone involved in the project, including all the Almarai stakeholders, worked well together to bring the project in on time,” he explained.  The climate had played its part, too. “It was so hot that we had a midday ban during the peak summer season, however, by working together as a collective team side by side with Almarai the project was delivered successfully,” he added.

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About GEA

GEA is one of the world’s largest suppliers of systems and components to the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. The international technology group, founded in 1881, focuses on machinery and plants, as well as advanced process technology, components and comprehensive services.

With more than 18,000 employees, the group generated revenues of about EUR 5.4 billion in more than 150 countries in the 2023 fiscal year. GEA plants, processes, components and services enhance the efficiency and sustainability of customer’s production. They contribute significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions, plastic usage and food waste. In doing so, GEA makes a key contribution toward a sustainable future, in line with the company’s purpose: ”Engineering for a better world“. GEA is listed on the German MDAX the European STOXX® Europe 600 Index and is among the companies comprising the DAX 50 ESG, MSCI Global Sustainability as well as Dow Jones Sustainability World and Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Indices.
 
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