What's in a name?

• Dairies explored benefits of employing ice pigging in their production cycles
• Results showed substantial cost and environmental savings

Yeo Valley Farms and BV Dairy in the UK explored cost-effective and environmental alternatives to clean their lines after production. They carried out 'pigging' trials that force ice slurry through the system to remove sediment, which saves cleaning time and reduces overall water and chemical use in the process.  

When operated on a stand-alone basis, the trials revealed, ice pigging could generate an additional € 150 525 (£ 132 000) in revenue per year for a single dairy site by recovering saleable product from production lines. When fully integrated into a dairy facility, ice pigging could deliver a further € 131 140 (£ 115 000) per year through increased productivity; reduced cleaning time means increased production time.

Additionally, ice pigging could offset the use of up to 25 tonnes of water per day, while also significantly reducing chemicals sent for treatment or ending up in sewerage.

Key benefits

• Reduced cleaning time and more production
• Increased product recovery, fewer production and cleaning cycles required for the same quantity of product
• Reduced water use during cleaning and less effluent
• Reduced chemical disposal requirements