Dairy Farm Milking Equipment
In This Guide
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Introduction
The cost of electricity alone can decide whether or not dairy farmers are able to stay in business. Dairy farms have energy demands that run around the clock, including ventilation, milking parlor operation and refrigeration. The milking center is the major consumer of energy in a dairy operation. Energy is used to produce vacuum for the milking machine, to power compressors used for cooling milk and to heat hot water used to clean the milking equipment. Energy efficient measures can save up to 50% in milking energy costs.
Technology Options
Milk production equipment (e.g., milk cooling, vacuum pumps, water heating) accounts for at least 46% of all energy used on a typical dairy farm. You can save up to 70% of the associated electricity costs through efficiency efforts.
Poor performance in vacuum pumping systems often results from poor overall vacuum system design. Vacuum pumps are typically oversized and run at constant high speed to accommodate any unexpected airflow. Because these pumps operate at full speed and maximum capacity regardless of needs, vacuum pumps waste a lot of energy. With a variable speed drive (VSD) on the vacuum pump motor, the capacity of the vacuum pump can be matched to the actual airflow requirements. A VSD also enables milk to be pumped at a more uniform flow through a plate cooler compared to the high speed intermittent "on/off" slugging of a conventional milk pump. The flow ratio between the water in the plate cooler and the milk increases, so the effectiveness of cooling the milk improves.
The type of pump used can also affect efficiency. Centrifugal pumps have much tighter tolerances and stress analyses of components to increase efficiency and machine time to failure. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software also has improved pump efficiency, boosting pump efficiencies from about 40 to 60% to 70% in recent years.
For the refrigeration component of milking equipment, most cost-effective methods of reducing the electricity required to cool milk are:
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Cooling water temperatures, and hence refrigeration energy, can also be minimized with a cooling tower. Cooling towers are used in air-conditioning systems and are designed to maximize the cooling effect by using "fill material" that is maximizes the surface area of contact between air and water. Milk pre-cooling minimizes the time that the mechanical refrigeration system takes to cool milk in the vat to the temperature required, and therefore also minimizes the growth of microorganisms.
Installing an in-line plate cooler can lower milk temperature before entering the bulk tank to be cooled further. In recent studies, this technology has proven to reduce cooling costs by almost 50%. In-line cooling also cools milk faster, which helps lower bacteria counts and reduce stress on the compressors.
Water heating systems have gained efficiency through heat recovery systems. On most dairy farms the milk heat available can pre-heat more water than is required for nominal wash-up and sanitizing. The issue then is one of choosing a heat recovery system that provides the warmed water needed on an individual farm within a reasonable payback period. This equipment falls into two basic categories: "desuperheating" units and fully condensing units. While desuperheating units are inexpensive, the energy savings for condensing units are sufficient to show a three to four year payback period.
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For more information about energy-efficient farming in general, and dairy farming in particular, see: | ||
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Efficiency Benefits
An energy-efficient milking system can save a dairy farm 70% of electricity costs and have a payback of less than two years. The potential electricity savings on any particular farm depends on the kW demand before and after changing out a pump and motor, the hours of use and the electrical rate. Generally, 10 hp of excess motor capacity results in $400 to $600 per month of excess electricity costs. Vacuum controller relocation alone can save energy use, while the installation of VSDs would reduce the electricity used by the vacuum pump by 33%, and the addition of milk plate pre-coolers would reduce milk cooling energy use by 15%. Other potential benefits from improving milking equipment efficiency include improved milking performance, milk quality and udder health.
Dairy farm energy audits in New York helped operators reduce consumption by 25 to 50% by increasing milk pumping efficiency. In order to estimate electrical energy and cost savings from downsizing vacuum pump motors, the utility companies measured kW demand of vacuum pump motors before and after downsizing in this example:
Example: 2200 Cows Milking 20 hrs/day | ||
Before | After | |
Efficiency | 20% | 100% |
Motor | 30 hp | 20 hp |
kW demand | 25.2 kW | 15.7 kW |
Savings | 25.2 kW - 15.7 kW = 9.5 kW 9.5 kW x 20 hrs/day = 190 kWh/day 190 kWh/day x 365 days/yr = 69,350 kWh/yr 69,350 kWh/yr x 9 cents/kWh = $6,241.50/yr One time cost = $2,400 Payback = Four and a half months |
Manufacturers
Manufacturers of milking equipment include DeLaval, Surge, Bou-Matic, Universal and Hinman.
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There are several manufacturer resources online: | ||
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Purchasing Tips
Most dairy equipment companies now supply the equipment options mentioned above. It is important to perform cost-benefits analysis on each investment. Although some equipment offers more electricity savings, evaluation of payback periods must closely examine total benefits provided. Such equipment can be considerably more expensive and in some cases may make economic sense only if a new system is required for reasons other than energy conservation. In any case, consult your dairy equipment supplier to find out what equipment best fits your needs.
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Evaluating equipment and suppliers can be simplified using online resources such as: | ||
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Emerging Technology
The California Dairy Energy Project is an on-going team effort by University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisors, the California Energy Commission, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and various dairy industry representatives. The goal is to improve energy efficiency, promote energy conservation and reduce energy costs on dairy farms. One effort is to monitor emerging technologies that have potential to conserve energy on dairy farms. Some of these technologies are only new in the sense that they have not been deployed on dairies until recently. For example, variable or adjustable speed drives have been around for some time, but they are now being used on milk pump motors in dairy barns.
Engineers in California and New York are testing the ability of high-temperature exhaust from specific vacuum pump types to heat water, and compare the economics of such a system to conventional water heating.
Biogas and other alternative energy sources are also being explored on dairy farms. Biogas, produced by installing an anaerobic digestion system and the equipment necessary to generate electricity from the methane produced and collected by it can produce electricity and heat offsetting a farm's energy costs and reducing the need for other fuels.