Energy efficient use of equipment on dairy farms

Learn how to keep your energy intensive equipment running in the most energy efficient way for milk cooling, water heating and vacuum pumping.

Over 80% of total energy use on a dairy farm is accounted for by milk cooling, water heating and vacuum pumping. Some of the best efficiency measures in terms of payback come from optimising the operation and improving the efficiency of the core equipment used in those processes.

Before starting to monitor or alter any of the equipment on your farm, it’s useful to calculate your energy consumption per cow or per 100 litres of milk to see what potential you may have for improving your energy efficiency. A high user will have significantly greater potential to reduce energy consumption than one whose energy consumption is at the lower end of the scale.

After the initial benchmarking you should start by energy monitoring and recording how and when the different processes and equipment use energy – whether that’s energy you buy in or energy you are producing on site. We look specifically at the efficient use of plate heat exchangers, refrigeration systems, heat recovery units and vacuum pumps.

Recording how much energy your equipment uses and when it uses it, helps you spot issues and take steps to improve energy efficiency, often at relatively low or no cost.

The role of plate heat exchangers in milk cooling, how to operate them at maximum efficiency in practice and an indication of how much energy and money you might save.

A look at the key components of the refrigeration system, how to look after them and the likely energy and cost savings that can be achieved by robust yet simple maintenance.

A look at the two main ways to recover heat from the milk refrigeration system and the typical savings that can be achieved by efficient heat recovery.

How to cut vacuum pump running costs through better system control and the use of variable speed drives.