CONDITIONS AFFECTING EFFICIENCY OF SEPARATORS 163 



carried on to some extent in Europe. The process practically 

 insures uniform quality to the milk patrons in the distribution 

 of milk in cities, and secures a more uniform consistency of the 

 product. 



2. Condition of the Milk. In order to get complete separa- 

 tion, and keep the separator in good running order, it is essential 

 that the milk should be in as good physical condition as possible. 

 Coagulated, slimy, or otherwise viscous milk separates with 

 difficulty. When such milk is on hand it should not be mixed 

 with the milk that is in good condition, as it might tend to coag- 

 ulate more of the good milk, and the coagulated or slimy lumps 

 are likely to clog the separator. Such milk should be left until 

 all the good milk has been separated. Then, if the coagulated 

 or slimy milk is thoroughly stirred so as to reduce its lumpiness, 

 it may be run through the separator successfully. It is a good 

 plan not to feed the separator quite so heavily when this quality 

 of milk is being run through. If the inlet is partly shut off, it will 

 usually run through without clogging. Milk containing impuri- 

 ties in suspension should be thoroughly strained previous to 

 separation. 



Overfeeding the Separator. When a separator is being over- 

 fed with milk there is a tendency for the machine to do less com- 

 plete work. This is due to the fact that the more milk is being 

 fed into the separator the less time it will be subjected to the 

 centrifugal force. It is possible to underfeed the separator as 

 well. As has been mentioned before, the inlet can be closed to 

 such an extent as to cause nearly all the discharge to take place 

 through the skim-milk tube. 



As a rule when the machine has been set so as to allow the 

 milk to flow in at a certain rate, it will continue to admit prac- 

 tically the same amount of milk all through the skimming period. 

 Among the conditions which may alter the rate of inflow to some 

 extent, are the amount of heat and the change of pressure, due to 

 different amounts of milk in the receiving-vat. Temperature 

 will slightly affect the rate of inflow. The higher the tempera- 

 ture, all other conditions being the same, the more milk will pass 

 through the inlet. 



