IMPULSE MILK HOMOGENISATION

INTRODUCTION The process of producing fine dispersed emulsions via homogenization is widespread in many industries 1 . Homogenization has been most widely used in the dairy industry, where it is one of the most important technological processes. Homogenization of fat particles to microscopic sizes increases the nutritional value of milk, improves its sensory and taste properties, increases stability during storage and transportation, etc. 2 . The quality of products using homogenized milk is much higher. That is why homogenization is the normative process in most technological schemes for the production of drinking sterilized and pasteurized milk, fermented milk products, ice cream, canned milk, and cheese production. With the development of technologies, homogeneous components are being applied, and higher requirements for the dispersion of the final product are being made. The main technical problem of obtaining fine emulsions is the limited capacity of homogenizers. Therefore, designing devices and methods for producing finely dispersed emulsions with the ability to vary dispersion and high productivity is of high relevance. Valve homogenizers are mainly used for homogenization of milk and dairy products. However, analysis of valve homogenizers design showed that they have significant drawbacks: big overall dimensions and weight, high metal consumption, high energy consumption, rapid wear of the valve surfaces and a fairly high cost of equipment. It should be noted that other existing types of homogenizers either do not allow to achieve such degree of dispersion of the fat phase, or have sufficiently large energy costs for the process. Thus, the issue of improving the existing and