As soon as milk is collected, refrigeration becomes an issue of paramount importance. Once milk has been pasteurized, it must be maintained below 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Pasteurized milk is not sterile, so failures related to cooling can lead to dangerous bacterial growth.
Bacillus cereus is the archenemy of dairies and dairy product fans throughout the United States. This bacteria is principally responsible for spoilage of cream, cheese, and milk. As recently as 2017, companies in Germany had to discard thousands of gallons of long-life whole milk in response to bacillus cereus.
Other dangerous micro-organisms like salmonella, listeria, and E. coli can also flourish when milk isn’t kept cold enough. Milk can go sour in just two hours at room temperature and about half that time in the summer. Dairy producers, on the other hand, face sanctions if cooling fails for as little as a few minutes.
No one wants to lose thousands of dollars in product as a result of some glitch in their cooling equipment. To ensure your dairy milk chilling and refrigeration systems will work as planned day in and day out, it’s crucial to select the right compressor and keep it maintained.
For many dairies, that means a remanufactured Bitzer compressor.
Why More Dairies Are Looking to Bitzer Compressors for Dairy Milk Cooling Systems
Once you install a cooling system, it’s essential to make sure you use the same make and model of compressor going forward. The compressor is the “heart” of the cooling system, doing the mechanical work necessary to pressurize the refrigerant gas and make it available to all the other components throughout the system.
The compressor can pick up the slack and work a little bit harder when other components become inefficient, but the reverse isn’t true. When the compressor fails, the cooling cycle comes to a stop. A compressor failure may also cause damage throughout the rest of the system, depending on the actual nature of the failure.
Screw compressors, as well as, semi-hermetic compressors have the advantage of fewer mechanical parts; this is a win for many dairies because they tend to have the least parts and, thus, fewer mechanical issues. One trade-off is the fact that screw compressors can be designed for higher volumes than scroll compressors.
The efficient design of the Bitzer compressor helps to ensure that it will maintain a high level of efficiency later in its service life. While all modern commercial compressors can be expected to run for eight to ten years in the right environment and with regular maintenance, a screw compressor is more likely to be highly efficient and reliable in the latter half of its service life. This makes a big difference for a demanding dairy!
Remanufactured Bitzer Compressors Help Keep Your Cooling Costs Down
Your compressor is the core of your cooling system and by far the most costly component to replace. When the time comes to consider a replacement, a remanufactured Bitzer compressor can make your life much easier. With a remanufactured commercial compressor, you get the quality you deserve at a fraction of the price.
A remanufactured compressor uses your existing compressor core as its base, so you don’t have to wait months to source a new core from an OEM wholesaler or the OEM itself – which could be thousands of miles away. The unit is cleaned inside and out and all necessary component replacements are made.
The ultimate goal of professional compressor remanufacturing is to ensure the unit meets all performance and environmental commitments for another 8-10 years of service. An experienced compressor remanufacturer in the United States will carefully test every function as the unit is restored to peak condition.
Dairies can’t afford even an hour of lost cooling, so it’s vital to plan for compressor replacement early. With compressor remanufacturing, you have one less thing to worry about in your daily operations.
