CSIRO is helping develop a new technology for the food industry - forward osmosis.

The challenge
Concentrating liquids in the food industry

Many foods and beverages go through a concentration or evaporation step during processing to be able to last long enough to be shipped and stored or conveniently used as an ingredient in another product.

One industry that concentration is an important process for is the dairy industry. Milk is pumped through an evaporator to remove much of the water, then through a spray dryer to remove the rest of the water, which creates milk powder.

Evaporators use heat and vacuum to concentrate liquids, which can reduce the quality of some food and beverage products. They also use a lot of energy to operate and can foul, which can cause costly delays.

Other concentration technologies include membrane systems such as reverse osmosis, which also use pressure.
Our response
Our technology collaboration with Porifera

We have teamed up with US membrane technology specialist company, Porifera, to develop a relatively new technology that also concentrates food and beverage streams.

A woman standing beside a food processing unit
Jennifer Klare of Porifera with Australia's first forward osmosis unit for the food industry at CSIRO's food innovation centre in Werribee, Melbourne
Forward osmosis uses membranes to concentrate liquids but it uses considerably less pressure than evaporation, therefore it uses less energy, there is significantly less fouling and cleaning is easier.

The process doesn't use heat, so proteins remain intact and components such as vitamins, flavours and aromas are retained, which means food products can have better quality attributes.

The first commercial unit for the Australian food industry is at CSIRO's food innovation centre in Werribee, Melbourne, and is available for the food and beverage industry.