Arla Foods has achieved a significant breakthrough in its efforts to reduce emissions across the supply chain, introducing a new generation of heat pump technology. The dairy company announced the development in a recent press release.

For the first time, Arla has installed an electric heat pump system at a milk powder facility – specifically at AKAFA in Svenstrup (photo). While heat pumps are already in use at several Arla dairies, this is the first time the technology has been scaled to meet the demanding requirements of spray drying. The innovation is expected to cut annual emissions by more than 1,500 tons of CO₂.

• This marks a milestone in reducing emissions from our supply chain. Spray drying has long been one of the most challenging processes to electrify, and by overcoming that hurdle we are taking a groundbreaking step towards a more sustainable dairy industry, says Line Brandt Pedersen, Director of Supply Chain Sustainability at Arla Foods.

Spray drying – the process used to produce milk powder – is among the most energy-intensive operations in dairy production. Converting liquid milk into powder requires extremely high temperatures that most electric heat pumps struggle to maintain efficiently.

Unlike conventional electric heat pumps, which rely on steam or water for heating, the new system at AKAFA uses CO₂ for both heating and cooling. This enables efficient performance even at temperatures up to 120 degrees Celsius. Compared to previous solutions, the new heat pump reduces emissions by more than 1,500 tonnes of CO₂ annually.

According to Line Brandt Pedersen, Arla now plans to explore the potential of applying this technology across other production sites.

Read the full press release HERE

Photo: Arla

By LWM