The same multinational milk processor came back to us for its Adelaide site. This time it needed 1,500 litres of cream held at 4°C, in a spot where the whole tank had to come in at about 1.7 m tall. A tall, narrow tank with a mixer and manway on top was never going to fit.
What the tank had to do
- Hold 1,500 L within an overall height of about 1,665 mm (1,765 mm to the top of the fittings)
- Keep cream at 4°C
- Allow mixing and operator access with nothing mounted above the tank
- Drain completely, with no dead spots for product to collect
Wide and low
To fit the capacity under the limit, we made the tank wider: 1,300 mm inside diameter on a 1,200 mm straight side, with a sloped bottom that drains to the outlet. It stands on four 3″ Sch10 pipe legs with cross bracing and bolt-down feet, on a footprint just over a metre square.
Cooling
A 980 mm dimple jacket on the side of the tank cools the cream to 4°C, connected through two 1″ TC ferrules. The jacketed shell sits behind 55 mm of insulation and 1.5 mm stainless cladding, which keeps cooling losses down and leaves a smooth outside that’s easy to wash.
Everything comes in from the side
With no room above the tank, the manway and the mixer both go through the side wall:
- A 520 × 420 mm oval manway gives full access for inspection and maintenance
- A flange-mounted side entry mixer (0.37 kW, 60 rpm) sits low on the shell at 60°, keeping the cream moving gently, with its shaft shortened to suit the vessel
- At both openings, the cladding is flared outward so it closes neatly around them
Hygienic fittings
- CIP: a static clip-on spray ball through a 1″ TC ferrule, mounted in a 3″ ferrule union so it’s easy to remove
- Sampling valve: set on a 5° slope so it drains fully and leaves no dead spot
- Instruments: a low level transmitter, a 2″ TC high level switch and a weld-in thermowell
- Safety: a 2″ pressure and vacuum vent and a 2″ overflow
- Outlet: a 3″ BSM outlet at the low point of the sloped bottom
The tank is 304/304L stainless steel with a 3 mm wall. Internal welds are ground flush and polished to 180 grit; external welds are pickled and cleaned.
The result
1,500 litres of chilled, gently mixed cream within the site’s height limit. It cleans in place and drains completely, so the customer gave up neither capacity nor hygiene to fit the space.
See more dairy processing equipment we design and build, or send us your height limit.
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