Tailored evaporation solutions for the dairy industry

Our GEA Center of Competence Evaporation has been serving customers since the early 1950s, and we have helped to pioneer the development of modern, digital technologies for diverse dairy processes. Exploiting decades of expertise, our GEA specialists have worked with customers around the world to configure and install optimized evaporation plants for just about every type of end product, from nutritional formula and milk powders, to whey protein concentrates, permeate and sweetened condensed milk.
In a nutshell, evaporation is a concentration step that removes water from a product, to increase the proportion of total solids. It’s commonly carried out as a process stage prior to storage or before spray drying. GEA knowhow and versatile technologies span the entire process, from pre-treatment, heat treatment and the evaporation step itself, to separation and post treatment.

The operating costs of an evaporation plant are largely determined by the energy consumption. Mechanical vapor recompression (MVR), and thermal vapor recompression (TVR) are the two technologies used most commonly in the dairy industry. GEA can offer both solutions, and will tailor the optimum system for your needs.
And why not have a look at our GEA regenerative and flash evaporation systems, which can contribute to large energy savings. These technologies enable a much shorter heating time for a far higher temperature, and help to minimize product denaturation, making it possible to recover almost ¾ of the steam used at the heat treatment step, and tailor precise the needed product functionalities.
All of our equipment is designed with a focus on operator and food safety, and as a foundation for optimizing product quality. And of course, you can be assured that GEA technology has been developed to meet the most stringent hygiene requirements.
To find out more, just contact your local GEA representative, who can put you in touch with the right expert to help you select the ideal technologies for your plant setup and products, and show how GEA evaporation solutions could help to improve your process efficiency and still deliver an enviable return on investment.
During this webinar you will:


An electrical steam system for MVR evaporators in dairies, featuring the latest heat pump technology, that reduces energy consumption by up to 60% and CO2 emissions during use by up to 100%.

Helping dairy processors reduce waste, cut costs, improve processes and enhance product quality.

The MSD® Spray Dryer is the preferred choice for many dairy products such as e.g. Milk Powder and Nutritional Formula where uniform coarse, agglomerated, free-flowing and dustless powders are in great demand.

Cost effective single-stage dryer that can be upgraded to let you create a wide range of powders for industries as diverse chemicals and food ingredients
GEA centrifuges enable wastewater reuse, resource recovery, and water security by turning biosolids into value in a world facing growing water scarcity.
Last year was not a year of hyped-up headlines for alternative proteins. Perhaps that is precisely why it was an important year for food biotech, the biotechnology behind everyday foods and ingredients. While the sector worked through a difficult funding environment, approvals were still granted, pilot lines set up and new platforms tested in the background. In short: headlines are turning into infrastructure. Frederieke Reiners heads GEA’s New Food business. She and her team work at the intersection of biotechnology and industrial food production. In this interview, she takes us on a world tour of food biotech in seven questions.
Pets are family – and owners expect premium, transparent and sustainable nutrition. Freeze-drying, powered by GEA technology, helps pet food makers deliver.