Energy-saving cooling unit for mountain pastures

The Russian Federation has every opportunity to take a leading position in the export of milk. The export potential is quite large, taking into account the incomparable feed resources relative to other producing countries. The areas of land for dairy farming in the Russian Federation are quite extensive and have differences, including geographical location. In particular, mountain pastures, the area of which reaches about two million hectares only in the territory of the North Caucasian Federal District. The provision of scientific support and introduction of adapted to mountain conditions and energy-saving technical means of milk production will make it possible to lay the foundation for the production of drinking cow's milk in the country's ecologically clean zone. When using technical means for the production of cow's milk in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, there have been revealed violations of the operation of serial milking machines in the mountainous part of the production cycle. Namely, the relationship between the duration of cycles is violated, due to which there is an increase in the number of injuries of dairy cows, which results in an increase in the number of mastitis diseases, and consequently leads to a decrease in the productivity of animals and machine milking operators. Cases of early culling of productive livestock became more frequent. There are difficulties in the energy supply for mountain milking centers, which include primary processing and storage of milk. These are technical means of cooling and storing milk that need uninterrupted power consumption. The complexity of maintenance for the mentioned technical means and the presence of harmful reagents further exacerbate the overall set of shortcomings. The listed negative aspects of the production process reduce the economic attractiveness of dairy production in mountain pastures. The article provides an analysis in the direction of cooling and storing cow's milk. The data on energy consumption for cooling freshly milked milk are given. An energy-saving refrigeration unit for mountain pasture conditions has been developed. It is powered by a renewable source of mountain rivers. The proposed refrigeration unit has been tested in the conditions of the mountain pastures of the North Caucasus in accordance with the entire complex of technical means of the milking center.