In the dairy industry, evaporation is used to concentrate whole milk, skim milk, whey, whey protein concentrate and permeate from membrane filtration modules. Water is evaporated by means of indirect heating. Product and heating medium (steam) are kept separate from one another by means of a sheet of special steel. The heat released during the condensing of the steam is transferred to the product via the partition.
Evaporation also constitutes the preliminary stage of the drying of the said products.
How far the concentration process can be forced is determined by product properties such as viscosity and heat stability.