
16
SOMEREASONSFOREKOMILKACCURACYANDREPEATABILITY
DEVIATIONS
Belowaredescribedsomereasonsthatmayworsentheaccuracyand re-
peatabilityoftheEKOMILKAnalyzersmeasurementresults.Someinforma-
tionaboutthewaytoavoidtheseproblemsisprovidedaswell.
1. Aired milk - thisismilkwithalotof tiny air bubblesinside. Thisair bubbles
areverysmall and ittakeslong time-fromonetomorethan10 oreven20
hoursfortheseairbubblestogetoutofthemilk.Thistimedependsonthe
milkparametersand mainlyon themilkFatcontents-thehighermilkfat
contentsisthelonger timeisrequiredfortheair bubblestoget out ofthemilk.
Theultrasonicmethodisnotsuitableforaired milktesting sincethe mea-
surementresultsarewithsignificantdeviationsfromthe realvaluesand
eveninsomeparticularcasesthemeasurementcannotbecompletedsuc-
cessfully.
Themilkbecomesairedusuallyduringthe milkprocessing-milking,ho-
mogenization,UHTetc.butitcanbe airedevenwhenthe milksampleis
mixedifthisismadeby hardcontinuousshaking.Thisiswhy thesample
shouldbemixedsmoothlyand carefully.
Therearetwoknownmethodsthatallowairedmilktobequicklyrecovered.
Thefirstmethod requiresthemeasuringmugwiththemilksampletobe
processed forabout10 to15 secondsinanultrasoniccleaning machine.
Thecavitationphenomena ofthepowerfulultrasonicfieldremovestheair
bubblesalmostinstantaneously.Theothermethodrequiresthemilksample
tobeputunder pressure-severalkg/cm2forabout10 to20 seconds.Unfor-
tunatelyasyoumaynotebothmethodsrequireadditionalequipmentbutas
long astherearesmall inexpensiveultrasoniccleaning machinescommer-
ciallyavailableitiseasiertoapplythefirstmethodifnecessary.
2.Milkacidity -Theultrasonicmethodrequiresthemilksampletobewarmed
during themeasurementprocess.Incasethemilkhasanincreasedacidity
amilkcoagulationmayoccurwhenthemilkiswarmedandthemeasure-
mentresultswill havesignificantdeviationsfromtherealvaluesand evenin
someparticularcasesthe measurementcanbe notcompletedsuccess-
fully.Foryourreferencethemilkacidityofthemilksamplemustbeless than
25°Tforcow,buffaloand goatmilkand less than28°Tforsheepmilk.
Anotherissue isthe milkcoagulationcontaminatesthe ultrasonicsensor
and itmustbeproperlycleanedthen.
3.Separated milkfat -Ifyoutrytotestcool(refrigerated)milkwhichhas
somemilkfat/creamseparatedyouwill probablygetwrong resultespecially
forthemilkfatcontents. Inthiscaseyouneedtowarmup themilkup to40 -
42°Cfirst, mixthemilkinordertosolvetheseparatedfat, coolitdownto20 -
25°Cand thenyoucantest it withtheEKOMILKAnalyzer.
4.Contaminated milk -Any solidparticlewithasizeabove0.5mm maycause
measurementresultdeviations.Thisiswhy werecommend themilksample
tobefilteredbeforeitistestedifthereisadoubtthemilkiscontaminated.