摘要 |
A method for treating raw milk to produce treated milk having a lower bacterial content than the raw milk. The milk is homogenized and, within about 5 minutes from the homogenization, subjected to dynamic microfiltration, to yield a filtrate which has a lower bacterial content than the initial raw milk. When the flow rate of milk through the microfilter drops below a predetermined level, the dynamic microfilter is removed from milk filtration service, flushed with water, and returned to milk filtration service, the steps being repeated as necessary until the membrane cannot be rejuvenated to a minimum filtration capacity, at which time the membrane is subjected to chemical cleaning to essentially restore the original filtration capacity of the membrane. |