Tara Dairy Sterile Ventilation Upgrade
Extends Product Shelf Life, Reduces Energy, Labor and Filter Costs

Tara, the second largest dairy in Israel, produces a variety of products, from fresh milk to cheese, yogurt and soy milk. A major plant located in Tel Aviv is located on a main roadway. This location suffers from high concentrations of fine dust, including car exhaust, which creates a special problem for air filters.

Original Filters Not Satisfactory

Tara had originally installed an expensive air filtration system, which required its own special air pump. The pump was not only costly to operate, it produced hot air which is detrimental to dairy product quality. Also, the sterile air filters and pre-filters required 12 replacement filter units each, making them extremely expensive and laborious to maintain.

Meanwhile, Tara management wanted to increase the shelf life of their products, to reduce out-of-date losses and improve profit margins.

SteriVent Extends Product Shelf Life

Fischer Planning was hired to assist in the upgrading of the air system. The entire plant was switched to SteriVent sterile filters. A single SteriVent filter is sufficient to supply three to four tanks with sterile air.

In addition to the substantial savings on replacement filters and the labor required to change them, Tara reported a significant extension of product shelf life:

• Fresh milk shelf life increased to 11-12 days from 5-6 days, a gain of up to 100%
  
  
• Cottage cheese shelf life increased to 16 days from 11 days, a 31% increase
  
  
• Quark, a soft cheese, increased to 26 days from 18 days—a 31% improvement in shelf life
  
  
• Soy milk shelf life was predicted to increase to about 35 days; an actual shelf life of 60 days has been realized.

These increases in shelf life directly improved product profit margins.

SteriVent Cuts Power Usage, Keeps Dairy Cooler

In addition, significant energy savings are reported: the old Tara air filters required 7.5 KW of electricity to operate; the new SteriVent filters require only 0.25 KW—a 97% decrease. In addition to saving money on electricity, another advantage over other systems is that SteriVent filters work without creating hot air, a great benefit to dairy operators.