Identify the reactor type used in process

There are few ways for the production of yogurt such as home or small-scale

production, medium-scale production, and large-scale production. In each methods

the processing plant and equipment used will be different according to the

requirement for the yogurt production.

In large-scale production, the reactor and equipment used are specially designed to

handle thousands of litres per day and a highly sophisticated technology has evolved

which offers a dairy both improved mechanisation and automation. At present, milk

collection from farms in developing and industrialised countries is carried out in bulk.

The pre-treatment of milk for the manufacture of set and stirred yogurts include

balance tank, plate heat exchanger (PHE), evaporator, homogeniser, and holding tube.

For milk reception, handling and storage at a factory, the equipment used are air

eliminator, filter, milk meter, intermediate storage tank, thermisation and cooling or

cooling machine, and silo tank.

In large-scale yogurt production, there are two types of fermentation process which is

batch fermentation and continuous fermentation. Batch fermentation uses batch

reactor while continuous fermentation uses continuous reactor. Once the relevant

yoghurt culture has been added to the milk, incubation follows. The end of the

incubation phase is often controlled by the pH value. As soon as the pH value reaches

4.2 to 4.5, the yoghurt must be cooled from the incubation temperature to 15 to 22 C,

to stop acidification.

The batch reactor is a simpler type of mode of reactor operation compare to

the continuous reactor. In batch fermentation, the batch reactor is filled with medium

and the fermentation is allowed to proceed. When the fermentation is finished, the
content in the batch reactor will be emptied for downstream processing. After that the

reactor will be cleaned, re-filled, re-inoculated, and the fermentation process will start

again. The fed batch reactor is the most common type of reactor used in the yogurt

production industry. In this reactor, the fresh media is continuous or sometimes

periodically added to the bioreactor and there is no continuous removal of the waste

and product. The fermenter is emptied or partially emptied when reactor is full or

when the fermentation process has finished.

For the continuous fermentation, the fresh media is continuously added and

bioreactor fluid is continuously removed. Therefore, the cells will continuously

receive fresh medium and the products and waste products and cells are continuously

removed for next process. Thus, the reactor can be operated for long periods of time

without having to be shut down. Continuous reactor can be many times more

productive compare to batch reactor. This is because of the fact that the reactor does

not have to be shut down as regularly and also due to the fact that the growth rate of

the bacteria in the reactor can be more easily controlled and optimized. In addition,

cells can also be immobilized in continuous reactors to prevent their removal and

therefore this will further increase the productivity of these reactors. The continuous

reactor is possible to achieve high productivities compare to batch reactor due to the

fact that the growth rate of the cells can be optimized by controlling the flow rate of

the feed entering the reactor.