Basic characterization and reduction potential of electricity and fuel use for US fluid milk processing plants.

In the United States (US), the industrial sector accounts of one-third of the total annual energy consumption (US DOE, 2009). Furthermore, industrial companies are organizing and implementing energy management strategies that seek not only to reduce energy usage and operating costs, but also to reduce energy-related environmental impact. One such leading industry in this movement is the US dairy industry, specifically led by Dairy Management Incorporated (DMI) and the Innovation Center for US Dairy. In cooperation with DMI's industry-wide effort to better understand energy use and identify reduction opportunities, eight US fluid milk processing companies shared production and utility data for numerous processing plants.

The main objectives of the work described within this thesis were to provide a basic characterization of energy use for fluid milk processing plants and to determine the potential impact of industry-wide conservation efforts. The study included a review of relevant literature, an overview of fluid milk processing methods, development of a simple spreadsheet model of HTST processing, the characterization of actual energy use for 108 US fluid milk processing plants, a first-level statistical assessment of the relationship between whole-plant energy use and weather or milk production, a survey of common industrial energy conservation measures applicable to fluid milk processing plants, and an estimate for the range of potential energy and cost savings from implementing energy efficiency measures across the US fluid milk industry.