Advancing Sustainability in Agri-Food Systems: Energy and Environmental Analysis of a Milk and Cream Processing Facility

This study presents a detailed energy and environmental analysis of a dairy processing facility, focusing on the production of skimmed milk and milk cream. The facility layout comprises separation units, ultra-high temperature pasteurization, and auxiliary components such as pumps, heat exchangers, and homogenizers. A thermodynamic model is developed in MATLAB using a bottom-up approach based on mass and energy balances, enabling the simulation of two plant configurations: a baseline layout and an enhanced layout incorporating thermal recovery strategies. In the baseline configuration, thermal energy consumption dominated, accounting for over 80% of the total demand, with a specific thermal load of 0.4655 kWh/kg of raw milk and an electric load of 0.1046 kWh/kg. The improved layout demonstrated a 64% reduction in thermal energy consumption, lowering the specific thermal demand to 0.1653 kWh/kg, with a marginal increase in electric use. This shift rebalanced the energy mix, with electricity representing 41% of total consumption. Environmental analysis revealed a reduction in carbon intensity from 175.06 gCO2/kg of raw milk in the baseline to 91.71 gCO2/kg in the optimized layout, corresponding to a 47.61% decrease. These results underscore the importance of adopting energy efficiency actions to enhance the sustainability and rationalization of dairy processing operations.