State-of-the-art MICROPARTICULATION unit
GEA MICRO FORMULA® for microparticulation
The GEA MICRO FORMULA® units are easy to operate and come as standardized modules, in different sizes to match your capacity requirements. The system is state-of-the-art for enabling sustainable, highly reproducible, and high-quality microparticulation of whey proteins.
The GEA MICRO FORMULA® units offer unique features, such as our proprietary temperature, time, shear (TTS) unit, which utilizes standard flow components, and enables complete control of the heat protein denaturation, particle size and distribution, as well as, most importantly, functionality of the resulting microparticulated whey protein concentrates (WPC).
Key benefits of the GEA MICRO FORMULA® solution
- Lower CAPEX, OPEX, service and maintenance costs:
- The system is based on a special configuration of standard flow components, i.e. pumps and valves, and plate heat exchangers.
- There is no need for specialized process equipment, such as homogenizers or SSHE (scrape surface heat exchangers), so overall costs are reduced.
- Configuration with the proprietary TTS unit means there are no heat transfer surfaces in the critical temperature zone, which means low fouling and so a long production run time under stable process conditions, without cleaning
- 18-20 hour production run time between CIP cycles reduces expenses all round
- Longer run times means that in some instances customers can choose to purchase a less costly, smaller unit
- Hygienic design facilitates thorough and easy cleaning
- Excellent, reproduceable functional properties of the MWPC (microparticulated WPC) product are maintained over longer production run times
- Excellent functional properties – such as high water binding effect and emulsifying properties – of the microparticulated whey equates to increased product yield for various applications.
Our technology, for making your whey
Our GEA MICRO FORMULA® system offers a technology for formulating microparticulated whey protein concentrates (WPC) that display excellent functional characteristics, from highly reproducible emulsification and improved water-binding, to optimized stabilizing properties, high interactivity with dairy and food matrixes, and a highly reproducible particle size of 1-10 µm. Using GEA MICRO FORMULA® will help you to generate products with high viscosity - similar to that of cream or drinking yogurts - great mouthfeel, and desired near-white color.
Microparticulation is ideal for generating whey products that can replace fat or milk protein in a wide variety of dairy and food applications. These whey proteins aren’t just inactive ingredients, their functional properties can improve the properties and yield of the final food product, and result in a great taste and texture.
For example, microparticulated WPC is commonly used to replace fats, generating lower-fat, great tasting products. These include:
- Most cheese types (also yield increase)
- Ice cream
- Yoghurt and milk desserts
- Dressing and sauces
- Mayonnaise and fat emulsions
- Other fat containing food products
Particle size distribution of microparticulated WPC generated using the GEA MICRO FORMULA®
Pilot units for initial testing
We want you to be confident that our technologies will fit in with your processes and generate high-quality products. But because we don’t expect you to just take our word for it, we offer the GEA MICRO FORMULA® pilot units for rental. This gives you the opportunity to test the microparticulation technology with your raw materials on site, as part of a complete process. Carrying out tests at your own facility means you don’t have to consider any negative effects that transporting raw materials to another test site might have on the process, which could compromise test results. You can assess our equipment alongside existing equipment, such as ultrafiltration systems for membrane filtration, and with your product packaging preferences, so you can see how your complete production line functions and evaluate the final product.
All of our GEA pilot units can be shipped globally, and we can even send our GEA experts to work with you, if you’d like that extra support.
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