Promethean Installs Thermal Energy Based Bulk Milk Coolers at Thirumala's Collection Sites in TN
Promethean Power Systems recently installed its patented energy-efficient bulk milk coolers at village-level collection centers run by Thirumala Milk Products (P) Ltd, a subsidiary of Groupe Lactalis S.A.
Promethean’s innovative bulk milk coolers will now help Thirumala Milk Products (P) Ltd. chill raw milk efficiently without diesel generators at village level collection centres in Thirumannamallai district of Tamil Nadu and bring quality dairy products to consumers.
Why Promethean’s Bulk Milk Coolers?
Thirumala was seeking a village-level milk cooling solution that would help procure and preserve high-quality milk while being both cost- and energy-efficient. The company chose Promethean’s bulk milk coolers over other products available on the market due to overall energy efficiency, low operational costs, and diesel-free eco-friendly operations.
Promethean’s patented thermal-energy storage technology entirely eliminates the use of diesel generators for power backup, resulting in a significant drop in chilling expenses, and operational and maintenance costs for Tirumala Milk Products.
The installation of the milk chillers, each with a cooling capacity of 2,000 liters per day, was marked by a festive inauguration ceremony.
In addition to the bulk milk coolers, Thirumala installed Promethean’s solar pack add-on to maximize energy efficiency, reduce its carbon footprint even further, and eliminate the need for batteries to run the lights, milk analyzer and other essential equipment in the centers. A significant advantage of using the solar pack is that the milk tanker will be able to collect the milk even when there is no electricity available at the site.
A Snapshot of Thirumala Milk Products (P) Ltd
Thirumala Milk Products is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of dairy products in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Tirumala was founded in 1996 and was acquired by French dairy giant, Groupe Lactalis S.A., in 2014. The company is focused on producing high-quality milk products with an emphasis on freshness, taste, and healthiness at the best possible price. The company produces a range of assorted products including fresh milk, curd, flavored milk, lassi, buttermilk, ghee, UHT milk, ice-cream, and paneer. These are produced at nine state-of-the-art manufacturing plants spread across southern India. Tirumala has also built a strong presence in Telangana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Have questions or comments? Please send them over to info@promethean-power.com.
Bulk milk coolers: A cool way to chill for dairies and farmers
Garima Rakesh Mishra | The Indian Express
February 23, 2017 1:50 am
The near-quadrupling of milk procurement by dairy cooperatives in Gujarat over the last 15 years — from an average of 45 lakh litres to about 170 lakh litres per day — has been attributed no less to a single factor: 24-hour power in rural areas, including guaranteed three-phase supply for eight hours, enabling village-level societies to install bulk milk coolers (BMC). These, with capacities ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 litres, chill the milk to around 4 degrees celsius at the primary collection point itself, inhibiting microbial growth that can lead to undesirable quality/taste changes and expedite spoilage.
But maintaining the freshness of raw milk sourced from farmers isn’t all that the BMCs have done.
In the pre-BMC era, the milk collected by the society had to reach the dairy plant by 8:30 am or so, before day temperatures rose. It required procurement to start by 6 am and farmers undertaking milking at least an hour earlier, so as to not miss the tanker. The sheer need to hurry through the process, moreover, limited the number of animals that could be milked. With BMCs, the milk was chilled at source and remained fresh, which gave farmers the flexibility to deliver even at 9 am. They could now afford to expand their herd size and supply more milk.
Today, an estimated 80 per cent of milk collected by Gujarat’s dairy unions comes through BMCs and it is not difficult to see the link between these and higher procurement volumes.
Not every state, unfortunately though, is Gujarat — where farmers have assured electricity supply allowing milk to be chilled not very long after it has left the udders of cows or buffaloes. In much of rural India, power supply is irregular, which means even BMCs cannot do without the backup of diesel generators.
This is where an innovation by Promethean Power Systems, a Pune-based company founded by two men from Boston has made a difference. In 2011, Sorin Grama and Sam White built the final prototype of a Rapid Milk Chiller (RMC) based on a proprietary Thermal Storage System (TSS) technology. At the heart of it lay a thermal battery, which drew and stored electricity from the grid as and when available. This stored energy it then released to rapidly chill the milk collected from farmers at ambient temperatures — say, 35 degrees — to 4 degrees Celsius.
How Promethean Power Systems is revitalizing dairy farming industry
Sneha Jha | Economic Times CIO
February 01, 2017, 11:55 IST
Khanderao Nimbhorkar, a 45-year-old dairy farmer from Ahmednagar district’s Hattalkhindi village, is brimming with confidence and excitement. His dairy farming activities now fetch him a tidy sum of Rs 20,000 per month. Coming this far would not have been possible for Nimbhorkar without the help of Pune-based refrigeration solution provider Promethean Power systems. Co-founded by Boston-based entrepreneurs Sorin Grama and Sam White, the company has come up with a socially-relevant invention to strengthen the weakest link in the chain of dairy farming: milk collection.
As the largest milk producer and consumer in the world, India has earned the sobriquet of the oyster of the global dairy industry. It accounts for 18 percent of global milk production in the world. Rural India churns out 102 million gallons of milk every year, generating employment for over 75 million dairy farmers.
Read the full story here.
Eventual sweet taste of success
Anjuli Bhargava | Business Standard
January 30, 2017
In life, it’s easier to fail than to succeed. Romania-born Sorin Grama and US-born Sam White learnt this the hard way in India. The two are co-founders of Promethean Power Systems, a company they set up in India some years earlier, moved base to Delhi for a while to sell their idea and, after having tasted many failures, seem to finally be on the way to achieving a degree of success. In 2007, the duo first came to India to try and sell a technology developed by some of their fellow MIT students.
Promethean’s Innovative Milk Chilling Systems Garner Attention at 12th African Dairy Conference and Exhibition
Much like the South Asian markets where Promethean is currently active, the dairy industry in Africa, too, is brimming with latent opportunities.Promethean Power Systems recently had the opportunity to explore this developing market at the 12th African Dairy Conference and Exhibition (12th AfDa).
Milk production and consumption in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda is on an upswing. However, the African dairy industry faces numerous challenges.The most prominent of which are: low quality of milk, low production and collection volumes, limited expertise in milk processing and preservation, unreliable grid supply, and long transit times.
The 12th AfDa, held in Kigali from August 31 to September 2 2016, was an event that discussed how these changes are shaping the region’s dairy sector. The theme of the 2016 conference was, “African Dairy; the Future Begins Here”.
Promethean Power Systems was invited to participate in the conference to introduce dairy processors in African countries to a cost-effective, eco-friendly and diesel-free alternative to chilling milk – one that uses thermal-energy-storage-based systems. At the conference, Jofi Joseph, Director of Sales & Marketing, Promethean Power Systems, spoke on the topic, “Milk bulking and quality at the farm.”
A Snapshot of the African Dairy Industry
Milk production in Africa has grown steadily in response to the overall economic growth and health awareness. Most of the milk production in East Africa is run by small-scale farmers. There is a growing interest among the governments to develop the dairy industry as it provides a regular income source for the farmers.
The major hurdle in all of these countries is the lack of adequate infrastructure both at the farm and at the processing facilities. There is also a conscious effort by the dairy companies to shift the consumption pattern from liquid milk to products such as cheese, yogurt, and flavored milk. All these products require high-quality milk as their input which is an area where Promethean can make a difference.
How Promethean Could Help African Dairy Step Closer to Growth through Value-added Products
To achieve significant growth in production, the dairy industry in Africa requires solutions that are efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly. Promethean’s conventional and Rapid Milk Chillers can potentially address the challenges faced by dairy processors in electricity-scarce African nations.
Compared to India and Bangladesh, African nations have a relatively lower ratio of villages where milk is chilled at the village-level. For instance, the entire country of Rwanda has an estimated 100 milk coolers, which is lower even than the number of units installed in a few districts in the Indian state of Maharashtra. This demonstrates the need for implementation of state-of-the-art dairy supply chain technology in the African dairy industry.
Promethean Stirs Interest of Dairy Processors, Government Entities, and NGOs at AfDa
The conference has helped Promethean open discussions with local NGOs and establishments in Africa. African government officials have shown a keen interest in Promethean’s thermal-energy-based milk chillers and solutions that offer partial usage of electricity. Representatives from “Send a Cow”, an NGO working with small dairy farmers in East Africa, visited the Promethean factory and sites to gain a better understanding of the technology and evaluate implementation in their areas of operation.
“With a growing dairy industry and limited electrification, we see Africa as a very promising market for our innovative refrigeration solutions. We believe we can help dairy farmers and processors bring quality products to consumers. Our medium-term plans include the establishment of a permanent presence in Africa. Until then, we are planning to work with African dairy processors by shipping units from India,” said Jofi.