Milk Powder Technology

Milk Powder Technology
Evaporation and Spray Drying
engineering for a better world GEA Process Engineering

GEA Process Engineering
Preface to Fifth Edition

The material that formed the basis for the first edition of this publication, edited in
1980, was used as teaching material for a group of students during a seminar arranged
by the UN organization UNIDO in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1978.
Development of evaporation and spray drying technology and associated equipment is

at GEA Niro an ever ongoing matter. This new fifth edition has been revised to bring
the readers up-to-date with our development of "Wrap-around" separators designed to
improve space requirements for evaporators and their overall efficiency. Furthermore,
a new chapter describing how to design evaporators to avoid growth of thermophilic
bacteria and their spores has been included.
Within the spray drying technology GEA Niro has also made significant develop-
ments. This new edition describes a CIP-able bag filter replacing cyclones, thereby im-
proving the overall dryer efficiency. Also a completely new environmentally friendly
spray drying plant with integrated particulate air filters and fluid beds has been in-
cluded.
I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues for their valuable comments, editing

and printing of this new publication, and it is my wish that it can be useful for training
and education of food and dairy technologists in dairy schools and universities, as
well as serve as a handbook for evaporator and spray dryer operators.
The book will be available in the English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish
and Chinese language. On GEA Niro's web page http://www.niro.com/ you will find
the English version in an electronic form.
GEA Niro, Copenhagen, February 2010 (reprinted)
Vagn Westergaard
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Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................... 13
Evaporation ............................................................................................ 15
Falling Film Evaporators ............................................................................... 17

Vapour Recompression TVR ................................................................................. 23
Mechanical Vapour Recompression MVR ............................................................. 29
Comparison of Energy Consumption in Different Evaporators ............................. 33
Design of Industrial Evaporators ........................................................................... 35
Auxiliary Equipment for the Evaporator ........................................................ 37

 Separators with Tangential Vapour Inlet ............................................................... 39
 Wrap-Around Separator ......................................................................................... 39
Product Distribution System .................................................................................. 39
 Dynamic Distribution System ................................................................................ 39
 Static Distribution System ..................................................................................... 41
Preheaters .............................................................................................................. 41
 Spiral-Tube Preheaters ........................................................................................... 41
 Straight-Tube Preheaters ........................................................................................ 43
Pasteurization/Holding Equipment ........................................................................ 43
 Bacteriological Requirements ................................................................................ 43
 Heat Classified Skim Milk Powder ........................................................................ 45
 Keeping Quality of Whole Milk ............................................................................ 45
 High-Heat Heat-Stable Milk Powder ..................................................................... 45
 Instant Whole Milk Powder ................................................................................... 45
Preheating Equipment to prevent Thermophile Bacteria Growth ........................... 49
 Mid-run cleaning.................................................................................................... 51
 UHT treatment ....................................................................................................... 51
 Duplex preheating system ...................................................................................... 51
 Contact preheating by direct steam injection ......................................................... 51
 Direct contact regenerative preheating................................................................... 53
Condensation Equipment ....................................................................................... 53
 Mixing Condenser .................................................................................................. 55
 Surface Condenser ................................................................................................. 55
Vacuum Equipment ............................................................................................... 55
 Vacuum Pump ........................................................................................................ 57
 Steam Jet Vacuum Unit ......................................................................................... 57
Cooling Towers ..................................................................................................... 57
High-Concentrators ................................................................................................ 57
Flash Coolers ......................................................................................................... 59
Sealing Water Equipment ...................................................................................... 59
Instrumentation and Automation ........................................................................... 59
 Feed Flow .............................................................................................................. 61
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 Pasteurization Temperature ................................................................................... 61

 Steam Pressure for Thermo-Compressor (TVR) .................................................... 61
 Solids Content ........................................................................................................ 61
 Vacuum/last effect boiling temperature ................................................................. 65
Concentrate Properties .................................................................................... 65

 Skim milk............................................................................................................... 67
 Whole Milk ............................................................................................................ 67
 Whey...................................................................................................................... 69
Spray Drying .......................................................................................... 71
Drying Chamber .............................................................................................. 73
Hot Air System and Air Distribution .............................................................. 75

Air Filtration .......................................................................................................... 75
Air Heating System ................................................................................................ 77
 Indirect Heating ..................................................................................................... 77
 Direct Heating ........................................................................................................ 79
Air Distribution ..................................................................................................... 81
 Rotary air stream.................................................................................................... 83
 Plug-flow air stream ............................................................................................... 83
Feed System ..................................................................................................... 83

Feed Tanks............................................................................................................. 83
Water Tank ............................................................................................................ 85
Concentrate Pump .................................................................................................. 85
Preheating System ................................................................................................. 85
 Plate Heat Exchanger ............................................................................................. 85
 Tube-in-Tube Heat Exchanger ............................................................................... 85
 Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger ........................................................................... 87
 Direct Steam Injection DSI .................................................................................... 87
 Lenient Steam Injection LSI™ .............................................................................. 87
Filter ...................................................................................................................... 87
Homogenizer/High-Pressure Pump ........................................................................ 89
Feed Line ............................................................................................................... 89
Atomizing Device ............................................................................................. 89

Pressure Nozzle Atomization ................................................................................. 91
Two-Fluid Nozzle or Pneumatic Atomization ....................................................... 93
Rotary Atomization ............................................................................................... 95
 Liquid feed rate:..................................................................................................... 95
 Peripheral speed: .................................................................................................... 95
 Viscosity of the liquid: .......................................................................................... 97
Atomization in Spray Dryers for Milk Products ............................................. 99

 Pressure Nozzles .................................................................................................... 99
 Rotary Atomizer .................................................................................................. 101
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Powder Separation System .............................................................................101

Cyclone ................................................................................................................ 101
Bag Filters ........................................................................................................... 107
Wet Scrubbers ..................................................................................................... 107
 Recirculation with Water ..................................................................................... 109
 Single-Pass with Milk or Whey ........................................................................... 109
CIP-able Bag Filter .............................................................................................. 111
 Comparison of Powder Separators ....................................................................... 115
Pneumatic Conveying and Cooling System ...................................................115
Fluid Bed After-Drying/Cooling ....................................................................119
Instrumentation and Automation ..................................................................119
Milk Powder Technology .................................................................... 123
One-Stage Drying ...........................................................................................123

 Moisture Content in the Final Powder ................................................................. 127
 Temperature and Moisture Content of the Drying Air ......................................... 127
 Solids Content in the Concentrate ........................................................................ 129
 Atomization ......................................................................................................... 129
 Viscosity of the Concentrate ................................................................................ 129
Two-Stage Drying ...........................................................................................131

Two-Stage Drying with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ (Plug-Flow) ............................. 133
Two-Stage Drying with Static Fluid Bed (Back-Mix).......................................... 142
 Ring-Formed Fluid Bed (COMPACT DRYER™) ............................................... 144
 Circular Fluid Bed (MSD™ Dryers) .................................................................... 148
 Spray Drying Plant with Integrated Filters and Fluid Beds (IFD™) .................... 150
Agglomeration ................................................................................................154
Spray Drying Agglomeration ............................................................................... 154
 The spontaneous primary agglomeration ............................................................. 154
 The forced primary agglomeration ....................................................................... 154
 The spontaneous secondary agglomeration .......................................................... 154
 The forced secondary agglomeration ................................................................... 154
 Separation ............................................................................................................ 156
 Attrition ............................................................................................................... 158
 Classification ....................................................................................................... 158
 Agglomerate structure and powder properties ..................................................... 158
Rewet Agglomeration .......................................................................................... 160
 Wetting ................................................................................................................ 162
 Agglomeration ..................................................................................................... 162
 Redrying .............................................................................................................. 166
 Cooling ................................................................................................................ 169
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 Sizing ................................................................................................................... 169
Heat Economy of a Milk Powder Production Line ........................... 171
Preheating ......................................................................................................171
Preheating the Drying Air with Condensate ......................................................... 171
Preheating the Drying Air with Vapour from the Evaporator .............................. 173
Heat Recuperation .........................................................................................175

Wet Scrubber ....................................................................................................... 175
Heat Recuperators ................................................................................................ 177
 Air-to-Air Heat Recuperator ................................................................................ 179
 Air-Liquid-Air Heat Recuperator ......................................................................... 179
Other Means of Saving Energy ......................................................................181
Analytical Methods Raw Milk, Concentrate and Powder Properties ..... 185
Raw Milk Quality ...........................................................................................185

Skim milk ............................................................................................................ 185
Whole Milk .......................................................................................................... 187
Sweet Whey ......................................................................................................... 187
Analyses for Raw Milk ...................................................................................189

Acidity (pH) ......................................................................................................... 189
Titratable Acidity ................................................................................................. 189
Analyses for Milk Concentrate ......................................................................191

Content of Air in Milk Concentrate ..................................................................... 191
Solubility ............................................................................................................. 191
Scorched Particles ................................................................................................ 193
Analyses for Milk Powder ..............................................................................193

Moisture............................................................................................................... 193
Bulk Density ........................................................................................................ 195
Particle Density/Occluded Air ............................................................................. 197
 Pasteurization temperature of the milk prior to evaporation ................................ 199
 Amount of air in the concentrate.......................................................................... 199
 Foaming ability of the concentrate ....................................................................... 199
 Type of wheel used or size of nozzle ................................................................... 201
 Solids content in the concentrate ......................................................................... 201
 Drying conditions (one-stage or two-stage) ......................................................... 201
Interstitial Air ...................................................................................................... 201
Flowability........................................................................................................... 203
Solubility ............................................................................................................. 205
Scorched Particles ................................................................................................ 207
Total Fat .............................................................................................................. 209
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Surface Free Fat ................................................................................................... 209

Wettability ........................................................................................................... 211
Dispersibility ....................................................................................................... 215
Sludge .................................................................................................................. 217
Slowly Dispersible Particles (SDP) ..................................................................... 217
Hot Water Test .................................................................................................... 217
Coffee Test .......................................................................................................... 219
Rate of Hydration ................................................................................................ 219
Analyses for Whey Powder .............................................................................221

Total Moisture and Free Moisture ....................................................................... 221
Hygroscopicity and Caking Properties ................................................................. 221
Dehydration of Foodstuffs .................................................................. 225
Different Food Ingredients ............................................................................225

Proteins ................................................................................................................ 225
Carbohydrates ...................................................................................................... 227
Fat ........................................................................................................................ 227
Starch ................................................................................................................... 229
Other Ingredients ................................................................................................. 229
Ordinary Milk Powders ..................................................................................229
Instant Milk Powders .....................................................................................231

Instant Skim Milk Powder ................................................................................... 235
Instant Whole Milk Powder ................................................................................. 237
Whey ...............................................................................................................241
Dumping .............................................................................................................. 243
Utilization of Liquid Whey as Fodder.................................................................. 243
Production of Whey Powder from Traditional Cheese Production ...................... 245
Evaporation.......................................................................................................... 247
 Lactic Acid Content ............................................................................................. 249
 Amorphous Lactose Content ................................................................................ 251
 Moisture Content ................................................................................................. 251
Crystallization of Whey Concentrate ................................................................... 253
 Heat Treatment before the Evaporation ............................................................... 257
 Solids Content of the Concentrate ....................................................................... 257
 Size of the Lactose Crystals ................................................................................. 257
Semi-Crystallization of Whey Concentrate .......................................................... 259
Spray Drying of Whey Concentrates .................................................................... 261
 Spray Drying by the Pneumatic Conveying Process ............................................ 261
 Spray Drying by the Fluid Bed Process ............................................................... 263
 Spray Drying by the Belt Process ........................................................................ 263
 Spray Drying of High Concentrated Whey Concentrate ...................................... 265
Production of Acid Whey Powder ....................................................................... 265
Whey with Fat ..................................................................................................... 267
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Mother Liquor...................................................................................................... 271

Whey Proteins (WPC) ......................................................................................... 271
Permeate .............................................................................................................. 273
 Dry Process .......................................................................................................... 275
 Wet Process ......................................................................................................... 277
 TIXOTHERM™ Process ..................................................................................... 279
Lactose ................................................................................................................. 281
Demineralized Whey ........................................................................................... 283
 Membrane Filtration ............................................................................................ 283
 Ion-Exchange ....................................................................................................... 285
 Electrodialysis ..................................................................................................... 285
Special Products .............................................................................................287

Baby Food............................................................................................................ 287
 Ordinary Whole Milk Powder .............................................................................. 289
 Whole Milk Powder with added Carbohydrates ................................................... 289
 Fermented Milk.................................................................................................... 289
 Humanized Milk .................................................................................................. 291
 Products with Starch ............................................................................................ 293
Manufacture of Baby Food Powder ..................................................................... 295
Caseinates ............................................................................................................ 299
 Batch Process ....................................................................................................... 299
 Continuous Process .............................................................................................. 299
 Spray Drying of Caseinates .................................................................................. 303
Bacteria-containing Products ............................................................................... 305
Milk Replacer ...................................................................................................... 307
 Dry-Mixing Skim milk Powder and Fat ............................................................... 307
 Drying an Emulsion of Skim milk Concentrate and Fat ....................................... 309
 Batch Process ....................................................................................................... 309
 Continuous Process .............................................................................................. 311
Whole Milk Powder with High Free-Fat Content ................................................ 313
Powders for Cheese Production ........................................................................... 315
 Skim milk............................................................................................................. 315
 Retentate .............................................................................................................. 321
Cheese Powder .................................................................................................... 321
Cocoa-Milk-Sugar Mixtures ................................................................................ 323
Coffee-Whitener .................................................................................................. 323
Cappuccino Powder ............................................................................................. 325
List of Figures ...................................................................................... 329
Bibliography ........................................................................................ 337
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- 11 -
- 12 -
Introduction
Transforming a liquid product into a dry powder requires removal of practically all
water, the amount of which often exceeds the weight of the final product.
During the water removal the processed product is undergoing deep changes of physi-
cal structure and appearance, starting with thin waterlike liquid and terminating with
dry powder at the end of the process. Therefore, one single method of water removal
cannot be optimal throughout the whole process, as also the product composition is
different from one food product to another. In the food and dairy industry the follow-
ing dehydration methods have been adopted:
Evaporation:
- concentrating milk of waterlike viscosity to a concentrate.
Spray Drying:
- transforming the concentrate into droplets and evaporating water from these
droplets in order to get a powder which consists of dry particles.
Vibrating Fluid Bed Drying:

- The VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ has been introduced for afterdrying and cooling, in
order to improve the drying efficiency and improve the powder quality.
Integrated Fluid Bed Drying:

- improving the drying economy even further, and at the same time offering the
possibility of drying difficult products.
Integrated Belt Drying:

- featuring a dryer with a moving belt at the bottom of the drying chamber, for
products extremely difficult to dry by conventional spray drying.
Each method should be adjusted to the properties of the processed material at each
processing step. The more difficult the product, the more complex the plant.
- 13 -
Fig. 1 Forced recirculation evaporator
- 14 -
Evaporation
The evaporation of milk has been known for many years, even as early as in the year of
1200 when Marco Polo described the production of a paste like milk concentrate in Mon-
golia. Then 600 years pass before we again find concentrated milk in the literature, but
from then on the development progressed rapidly with numerous patents applied for.
The most simple evaporator is an ordinary open pan heated with steam or direct gas. The
evaporation takes place from the surface while the liquid to be evaporated is heated up to
the boiling point corresponding to the ambient pressure, which at sea level will be 100C
and in an altitude of approx. 5000 m above sea level 85C.
As the evaporation has to take place from the surface, which is limited in relation to the
content of the pan, the evaporation will naturally take long time. The milk will be exposed
to the high temperature with a deterioration of the proteins, chemical reactions such as the
Maillard reaction, or even coagulation as a result.
As the development went on, the concentration was carried out in forced recirculation
evaporators. In this evaporator the milk streams upwards through a number of tubes or
plates. On the outside the heating medium, usually steam, is applied. The heating surface
is thus increased in this system, but the evaporation surface is still limited, as the tubes and
plates remain filled with product, which therefore becomes superheated in relation to the
existing boiling temperature. Not until the product leaves the top of the tubes, are the va-
pours released and the product temperature decreases. For the separation of liquid and va-
pours, centrifugal separators were preferred. In order to obtain the desired degree of evapo-
ration the product was recycled in the system. The concentration was thus controlled by
the amount of concentrate discharged from the plant. Fig. 1 shows a diagram of a forced
recirculation evaporator.
- 15 -
Fig. 2 Falling-film recirculation evaporator

Evaporator Tube
Milk
Upper Tube Plate
Steam
Tube
Condensate
Lower Tube Plate
Milk Concentrate
Vapour
Fig. 3 Evaporation in a falling film evaporator tube
Fig. 3a Evaporator calandria
- 16 -
Falling Film Evaporators

Over the past 40 years the falling film evaporator has practically replaced the forced
recirculation evaporator used until then. This type of evaporator is desirable from a
product point of view, as it offers a short holding time. Further, the amount of product
in the evaporator is reduced and the surface from which the evaporation takes place is
increased. Fig. 2 shows a diagram of a falling film evaporator.
The liquid to be evaporated is evenly distributed on the inner surface of a tube (see
page 39). The liquid will flow downwards forming a thin film, from which the boil-
ing/evaporation will take place because of the heat applied by the steam. See Fig. 3.
The steam will condense and flow downwards on the outer surface of the tube. A
number of tubes are built together side by side. At each end the tubes are fixed to tube
plates, and finally the tube bundle is enclosed by a jacket, see Fig. 3a. The steam is in-
troduced through the jacket. The space between the tubes is thus forming the heating
section. The inner side of the tubes is called the boiling section. Together they form
the so-called calandria. The concentrated liquid and the vapour leave the calandria at
the bottom part, from where the main proportion of the concentrated liquid is dis-
charged. The remaining part enters the subsequent separator tangentially together with
the vapour. The separated concentrate is discharged (usually by means of the same
pump as for the major part of the concentrate from the calandria), and the vapour
leaves the separator from the top. The heating steam, which condenses on the outer
surface of the tubes, is collected as condensate at the bottom part of the heating sec-
tion, from where it is discharged by means of a pump.
In order to understand the heat and mass transfer, the basis for the evaporation, it is
necessary to define various specific quantities.
From a given quantity of feed (A) part of the solvent is evaporated (B) leaving the
concentrate or the evaporated product (C). And thus
A=B+C (1)
See Fig. 4, showing specific quantities and the corresponding heat flow diagram.
The evaporation ratio (e) is a measure for the evaporation intensity and can be defined
either as the ratio between the amount of feed and concentrate or the ratio between the
solids percentage in the concentrate and in the feed.
A C  Concentrat e
e= = (2)
C C  Feed
- 17 -
Fig. 4 One-stage evaporator. Definition of various specific quantities

and the corresponding heat-flow diagram
- 18 -
If the concentrations or the evaporation ratio are known the quantities A, B or C can be
calculated, if one of them is known.
Given quantity to be found Formula
e -1
Quantity to be treated A B B=A x (3)
e
1
C C=A x (4)
e
e
Evaporated quantity B A A=Bx (5)
e -1
1
C C=Bx (6)
e -1
Concentrate quantity C A A=Cxe (7)
B B = C x (e - 1) (8)
Where A: feed in kg/h

B: evaporation in kg/h
C: concentrate in kg/h
e: evaporation ratio See formula (2)
Since milk, due to the protein content, is a heat-sensitive product, evaporation (i.e.
boiling) at 100C will result in denaturation of these proteins to such an extent that
the final product is considered unfit for consumption. The boiling section is therefore
operated under vacuum, which means that the boiling/evaporation takes place at a
lower temperature than that corresponding to the normal atmospheric pressure. The
vacuum is created by a vacuum pump prior to start-up of the evaporator and is main-
tained by condensing the vapour by means of cooling water. A vacuum pump or simi-
lar is used to evacuate incondensable gases from the milk.
At 100C the evaporation enthalpy of water is 539 Kcal/kg and at 60C it is 564
Kcal/kg. As the milk has to be heated from e.g. 6C to the boiling point, and as ener-
gy, approx. 20 Kcal/kg, is required for maintaining a vacuum corresponding to a boil-
ing point of 60C, we get the following energy consumption figures, provided we es-
timate the heat loss to be 2%:
- 19 -
Fig. 5 Principle of two-stage evaporation of water
- 20 -
Boiling temperature C 100 60
Heating Kcal/kg 94 54
Evaporation Kcal/kg 539 564
Vacuum Kcal/kg - 20
Net energy consumption Kcal/kg 633 638
Heat loss, approx. Kcal/kg 15 15
Total energy consumption Kcal/kg 648 653
corresponding to about 1.1 kg steam/kg evaporated water.
To simplify the following examples we will use 1 kg steam/kg evaporated water.
As vapour, see Fig. 4, from the evaporated milk contains almost all the applied ener-
gy, it is obvious to utilize this to evaporate more water by condensing the vapour. This
is done by adding another calandria to the evaporator. This new calandria - the second
effect - where the boiling temperature is lower, now works as condenser for the va-
pours from the first effect, and the energy in the vapour is thus utilized as it condens-
es.
In order to obtain a temperature difference in the second effect between the product
and vapour coming from the first effect, the boiling section of the second effect is op-
erated at a higher vacuum corresponding to a lower boiling temperature.
Boiling Vacuum corresp. to m above Volume of

point C m WG mm Hg abs sea level water vapour
100 0 760 0 1.7 m3/kg
85 4.5 434 5,200 2.8 m3/kg
70 7.2 233 10,000 4.8 m3/kg
60 8.3 149 14,000 7.7 m3/kg
50 9.1 92 18,000 12.0 m3/kg
40 9.6 55 22,000 19.6 m3/kg

A third effect heated by vapour from the second effect, and so forth, can of course be
added. The limit is the lowest vacuum obtainable, and that is decided from the amount
and temperature of the cooling water (usually 20-30C) condensing the vapour from
the last effect, whereby the vacuum is maintained. Using ice-water or direct expansion
of freon to bring down the last effect boiling temperature is of course theoretically
possible, but other factors such as viscosity of the product, volume of the vapours, and
crystallization of lactose determine the practical limit being about 45C.
- 21 -
Fig. 6 Thermo-Compressor
Fig. 7 Two-stage evaporator with thermo-compressor
Fig. 8 Heat-flow diagram. Two-stage evaporator with thermo-compressor
- 22 -
From Fig. 5 we can see that 1 kg of steam can evaporate 2 kg of water and by applying
a third effect 3 kg of water is evaporated using only 1 kg of steam.
Vapour Recompression TVR
Another way of saving energy is by using a thermo-compressor which will increase

the temperature/pressure level of the vapour, i.e. compress the vapour from a lower
pressure to a higher pressure by using steam of a higher pressure than that of the va-
pour. Thermo-compressors operate at very high steam flow velocities and have no
moving parts. The construction is simple, the dimensions small, and the costs low.
In Fig. 6 the principle of the thermo-compressor is shown.
In the live steam nozzle (1) the pressure of the inflowing steam is converted into ve-
locity. A jet is therefore created which draws in part of the vapour from the separator
of the evaporator. In the diffuser (2) a fast flowing mixture of live steam and vapours
is formed, the speed of which is converted into pressure (temperature increase) by de-
celeration. This mixture can now be used as heating steam for the evaporator. In Fig. 7
a flow sheet of a two-effect evaporator with thermo-compressor is shown, and in
Fig. 8 the corresponding heat flow diagram is shown.
The best efficiency in the thermo-compressor, i.e. the best suction rate, and thereby a
good economy, is obtained when the temperature difference (pressure difference) be-
tween the boiling section and the heating section is low.
Thermo-compressors must be adapted to the operating conditions. But these condi-

tions can vary, be it, for example, that the heat resistance of the heating surfaces in-
creases during operation due to deposits on the heating tubes. The suction rate will
then decrease considerably. In evaporators that have to serve various capacities a
number of compressors with different characteristics is used. Further, a thermo-
compressor, which has been designed for a higher live steam pressure, can draw a
larger amount of vapour from the separator than one built for a lower pressure. For
simplification we will in the following use an efficiency of 1:2, but new designed
thermo-compressors will under certain conditions operate with an efficiency of 1:3.
By adding a thermo-compressor we have then in a two-effect evaporator by means of

1 kg live steam evaporated 4 kg of water, i.e. the saving of steam is as great as that
obtained by addition of two effects in multi-effect evaporation. Dividing a given total
t between the first and last effect in multi-effect evaporators requires an enormous
heating surface and consequently an expensive installation.
- 23 -
- 24 -
The total heating surface can be reduced by increasing the t, which is done by in-
creasing the temperature of the first effect heating section, resulting in a higher boi l-
ing temperature. This will, however, result in fouling (microthin deposits of mainly
milk proteins on the tubes resulting in a decrease of the K factor), especially, if the
milk has a high acidity. Also crystallization of Ca-phosphate will at high temperatures
result in deposits.
Boiling temperatures higher than 66-68C (depending upon product and milk quality)
in the first effect should generally not be used, if a 20 hours' continuous production
time is aimed at.
The surface of the single effect of the evaporator is calculated from the following
formula:
B x h"
S= (9)
K xt
Where S: heating surface m2

B: water vapour kg/h
h": specific heat Kcal/kg (condensing enthalpy)
K: heat transfer coefficient Kcal x m-2 x h-1 x C-1
t: temperature difference or the driving force C
(between heating media and boiling liquid)
The most critical factor during the design of an evaporator is K, as it is a function of

product properties and temperature level used. It is influenced by:
Evaporator temperature
Specific heat
Density
Boiling pressure
Boiling point elevation
Heat conductivity
Viscosity
Surface tension
Other factors influencing the design:
Temperature sensitivity of the product

Chemical behaviour
The K factor therefore differs from product to product, especially, due to the boiling
point elevation which is a function of concentration of molecules and thus influenced
by the composition of the product and the solids content. At 9% solids, as in skim
- 25 -
Fig. 9 Mono-thermal compression.

7-stage TVR evaporator
Fig. 10 Poly-thermal compression.

7-stage TVR evaporator
- 26 -
milk, the boiling point elevation is less than 1C, whereas it is several degrees at 48-
50% solids. Only extensive laboratory work makes it possible to conclude this factor.
The capacity (C) of an evaporator is
C = K x S x t (9.1)
Thus the capacity of an evaporator can be increased by more surface or higher boiling
temperature in the first effect. It is not recommended to use higher temperature than
66-68C, as discussed above.
The total t (usually from 66C to 45C = 21C) is divided between each effect. This
means that in a three-effect evaporator each effect will have a big t corresponding to
a relatively small surface and low investment costs, and by an increased number of ef-
fects, whereby the steam consumption goes down, the available t becomes smaller in
each effect. This requires larger heating surface and the investment costs go up.
The thermo-compressor is incorporated between the first and second effect (mono-
thermal compression), the first and the third (bi-thermal compression), or between the
first and fourth effect (tri-thermal compression). The influence on the steam economy
and the investment costs is significant. If we look at a 7-effect evaporator with mono-
thermal compression (see Fig. 9), we can evaporate 9 kg of water using only 1 kg of
steam. For tri-thermal compression we place the thermo-compressor between the first
and fourth effect (see Fig. 10). We can now evaporate 13 kg of water using only 1 kg
of steam, as we utilize all the vapour from the first effect to heat the second effect, the
vapour from this is then used in the third effect, from where part of it is compressed in
the thermo-compressor.
If the thermo-compressor increases the temperature of the vapour by 9C we have a t

of 3C for each effect in a tri-thermal evaporator. In order to maintain the 9 kg evapo-
ration in the first three effects a bigger surface is needed compared to the example
with mono-thermal compression.
With a given length and diameter of the tubes the number of tubes can therefore be
calculated according to the previously mentioned formula (9).
However, one major drawback in multi-effect evaporators is the long residence time,
where the product is exposed to heat. Although it is at low temperature, it will have a
negative effect on the viscosity of the concentrate. See page 97.
- 27 -
Fig. 11 One-stage MVR evaporator
Fig. 12 Heat flow diagram MVR evaporator
- 28 -
Mechanical Vapour Recompression MVR
As an alternative to the thermo-compressor, the mechanical vapour compressor has

during the last fifteen years found extensive use in evaporators in the dairy industry.
The applied energy for the compressor is usually electricity, but also diesel motors are
used. Other processes may require steam at low pressure, and the compressor may be
driven by a steam turbine acting as a reducing valve. All determined by local price
policy for energy. As a rule of thumb, however, an MVR solution is profitable, if the
price/kW < price/kg steam x 3. However, the decision as to which type of compressor
to use, is nowadays influenced by the end product quality - the milk powder - and in
the MVR evaporator there is a very short residence time, resulting in low viscosity of
the concentrate.
The mechanical vapour compressor is a fast revolving high pressure fan (3000 rpm)
capable of operating under vacuum. At low boiling temperatures the volume of the
vapours is enormous (see page 21). Consequently, there is a limit as to the lowest
temperature levels used in practice. As the energy applied to the compressor is uti-
lized most efficiently by low compression ratios, the obtained temperature/pressure
increase is limited. Therefore, a large heat transfer surface is required tending to i n-
crease the capital costs of the equipment.
As it is essential to operate an MVR unit at a low overall temperature difference be-

tween the vapour evolved from the product and the heating medium as a result of the
compression, it is a must that the boiling point elevation of the product is kept at a
minimum, as this would otherwise even further minimize the temperature difference
available for the evaporation. This, too, limits the maximum concentrations aimed at
in evaporators of this kind. Fig. 11 illustrates a one-effect MVR evaporator, and
Fig. 12 the corresponding heat flow diagram.
The incoming cold milk is first preheated by concentrate then by condensate from the
heating section of the calandria followed by a final pasteurization by means of live
steam. The vapour is compressed in the MVR unit and used as heating medium, as it
releases the latent heat by condensation.
A vacuum pump, together with a small amount of cooling water, maintains the desired
vacuum in the system.
As it can be seen no energy leaves the plant in form of warm condensate, and only a
minor part via the cooling water (depending upon the pasteurization temperature de-
sired). The MVR evaporator is in this context very often used as precondenser of milk
products for transport purposes, where the required solids content is in the range of
30-35% and thus the boiling point elevation is limited. With the concentrate leaving
the plant at low temperature, this kind of installation is a strong competitor to hyper-
filtration.
- 29 -
Fig. 13 Working Cycle of a mechanical compressor
Fig. 14 Combined MVR/TVR evaporator
Fig. 15 Combined MVR/MVR evaporator
- 30 -
The working cycle of a mechanical compressor is shown in Fig. 13. The vapour is
sucked from the separator represented as point A at a given temperature/pressure level
ta/Pa and compressing it to point B':t' r/Pr. The compressed vapour is desuperheated to
B:tr by spraying water into the outlet of the compressor. The compressed vapour is
condensed on the heat exchanger surface in the calandria from point B to C, where it
is discharged as condensate. Simultaneously, water is evaporated from the milk and
separated in the separator from where it leaves at point A.
The MVR evaporator offers much better capacity flexibility / turn-down cabability, as
only the RPM on the fan needs to be adjusted.
Usually, the MVR evaporator is combined with a TVR unit, if solids contents suited
for a spray drying plant are aimed at, see Fig. 14. The steam consumption per kg
evaporated water is of course less than in a multi-effect evaporator, but if the MVR
unit is driven by an electric motor, the electrical energy consumption will be bigger.
As only very little cooling water is required, this combination offers a very attractive
solution, however, a higher investment should be anticipated. Under special energy
price conditions it is advantageous to replace the TVR unit with an additional MVR
unit to compress the vapour over the last effect, see Fig. 15. It is therefore recom-
mendable that each case be studied carefully taking local conditions such as steam,
electricity and cooling water prices into consideration.
- 31 -
2x3 high pressure fans for 2 MVR evaporators
- 32 -
Comparison of Energy Consumption in Different Evaporators
EVAPORATOR 5-effect 7-effect 1-effect MVR/

TVR TVR 2-effect TVR
PRODUCT Skim milk Skim milk Skim milk
Capacity, kg/h 15,000 15,000 15,000
Solids in/out, % 9/50 9/50 9/50
Evaporation, kg/h 12,300 12,300 12,300
Pasteurization temp., C 90 90 90
Holding time, sec. 30 30 30
Steam consumption, kg/h 1,610 1,190 375
Steam pressure, bar 10 10 10
Condensate, kg/h 13,400 13,400 12,800
Condensate temp., C 54 51 22
Power consumption
- MVR, kW - - 150
- Motors, kW 75 75 50
Cooling water cons., m3/h 32 3.5 2*)
Cooling water temp.,in/out, C 28/35 28/35 12/50
Power cons. cool. tower, kW 10 2.5 -
Residence time, min. 12 18 6
*) to be used only if the temperature of the raw milk is above 5C.
- 33 -
Evaporator calandrias with external preheaters
- 34 -
Design of Industrial Evaporators
The increased demand for big multi-effect evaporators requiring bigger heating sur-
face in order to obtain better specific consumption figures, can be met by using more
tubes. This would, however, mean that less liquid is getting into each of the tubes, and
the produced film becomes too thin. At high solids contents the viscosity will in-
crease, the film will not flow any more, and there will be a risk of burnt deposits. This
will result in a concentrate with small jelly lumps, very often discoloured and found in
the powder as "scorched particles", as they will not dissolve when the powder is re-
constituted. In extreme cases the tubes block completely and manual cleaning is nec-
essary.
The designer therefore operates with the so-called coverage coefficient defined as:
Product kg/h at the lower end of the tubes

(10)
Periphery of the tubes
The trend has therefore been to manufacture the calandria with longer tubes in order
to obtain more heating surface, maintaining the coverage coefficient at the same level.
About thirty years ago the evaporators were equipped with 3-4 m tubes and operated
with a temperature difference of about 15C, whereas evaporators 10 years ago had
tubes with a length of up to 14 m and a temperature difference down to 2C. Today
most new evaporators have tube lengths up to 18 m. The advantage is that less prod-
uct passes are needed to obtain sufficient coverage, fewer pumps, and reduced resi-
dence time.
The requirement to a modern evaporator is also flexibility and thus an ability to oper-
ate with various products and therefore with different capacities. The problem is a di f-
ferent solids content in the product to be evaporated, and that the spray dryer will have
a different capacity when drying different products. Furthermore, the evaporator will
have different evaporation capacities because of different K factor for the various
products.
When designing an evaporator/spray dryer the main product is therefore always se-
lected, and the evaporator calandrias are designed, so that optimal coverage coeffi-
cients are ensured, also for the other products.
As the K value is approx. 20% lower for whole milk than for skim milk, the evapora-
tion capacity will be about 20% less on whole milk. As the solids content is also di f-
ferent in skim milk and whole milk, the feed input to the evaporator decreases when
whole milk is to be evaporated. This requires special attention to the design of the cal-
andrias, as the coverage coefficient will be too low, especially in the first effect due to
the lower amount of feed input. If, on the other hand, the evaporator is designed for
whole milk as main product, and skim milk has to be evaporated, the coverage prob-
lem occurs mainly in the last effect due to the low solids content in the product
- 35 -
Fig. 16 Falling-film recirculation evaporator Fig. 17 Evaporator calandria split in two sections
- 36 -
yielding less amount of concentrate of 48% TS. The coverage problem was some
years ago overcome by recirculating part of the feed from the outlet of the calandria to
the inlet of same, thus increasing the amount of liquid sufficient to cover all the tubes.
See Fig. 16.
From a technical point of view this is the ideal solution, as it is cheap and simple, but
from a product point of view it should not be tolerated, as it means that part of the
product is exposed to the high temperature for a long uncontrollable time. This means
that the final concentrate will get increased viscosity and possibly protein denatura-
tion, both resulting in a powder with an inferior solubility.
In modern falling-film evaporators, the so-called "single-pass" evaporators, the prob-

lem is solved by dividing the effects with low coverage coefficient in two or more
separate calandrias with same boiling temperature and often one combined separator.
Another method is to split the calandria by dividing it into two or more sections in a
"multi-flow" evaporator. The product is pumped to one section, from the outlet of
which it is pumped direct to the next section, and so forth. Having passed through the
last section it is pumped to the next effect, see Fig. 17. This system is almost as cheap
as the recirculation, but has the advantage of the divided calandria and no circulation
is necessary.
Auxiliary Equipment for the Evaporator

In order to make the evaporator work as an integral unit the following auxiliary
equipment is needed:
 Separators
 Product distribution system
 Preheaters
 Pasteurization/holding equipment
 Preheating equipment to prevent thermophile bacteria growth
 Condensation equipment
 Vacuum equipment
 Cooling towers
 High-concentrators
 Flash coolers
 Sealing water equipment
 Instrumentation and automation
- 37 -
Vapour
Calandria
Classical Separator
Milk Concentrate
Fig. 17a Separator with tangential inlet
Calandria
Wrap-around Separator
New Type
Vapour
Milk Concentrate
Fig. 17b Wrap-around separator
Fig. 18 Dynamic product distribution system
- 38 -
Separators
Separators with Tangential Vapour Inlet

As the vapours generated from the evaporation are used as heating media in the "next"
calandria, any product must be separated, since it would otherwise contaminate the
condensate and further represent a loss.
The majority of the concentrate is discharged from the bottom of the calandria below
the tube bundle. Due to the high vapour velocity some of the concentrate will be car-
ried along with the vapour as small droplets. The separation is done in a separator
with tangential vapour inlet, see Fig. 17a, connected to the calandria below the tube.
Special care is taken to design the separator to avoid product carry-over at lowest pos-
sible pressure drop, as a drop in the pressure is equal to drop in heating enthalpy in the
following calandria with an all-over drop in the efficiency as a result.
Wrap-Around Separator
To reduce space requirements a new development has taken place with the design of
the Wrap-Around Separator, see Fig. 17b. It is integrated into the base of the calan-
dria. It has the same high efficiency as the classical separator with a low pressure
drop. It is typically used on big calandrias with MVR compressors connected to the
wrap-around separator with a very short vapour duct minimizing the pressure drop.
The saving in space requirements is typically around 30%.
Product Distribution System
As already explained it is very important that the product is distributed evenly into all
the tubes in the calandria to get a good coverage. The distribution system is therefore
given special attention when designing an evaporator.
In principle there are two different systems:
 Dynamic distribution system

 Static distribution system
Dynamic Distribution System

In the dynamic distribution system, see Fig. 18, the necessary kinetic energy for dis-
tribution is obtained by a pressure drop of the product over a full-cone nozzle. As the
product is superheated in relation to the pressure inside the tubes, flash vapour will i n-
stantaneously be formed. The mixture of product and vapour is sprayed into the inlet
of the tubes thus being covered by product.
- 39 -
Fig. 19 Static product distribution system Fig. 20 Spiral-tube preheaters
Top (inlet distribution system) of evaporator calandrias
- 40 -
The ability of a nozzle to spray optimally is depending upon the pressure drop deter-
mined by the quantity of the liquid to be handled and the degree of flashing when en-
tering the room above the tubes. This distribution system is therefore not considered
adequate in modern evaporators where flexibility, and thereby differences in the feed
quantity are required. Further, in multi-effect evaporators the flashing, and therefore
the distribution, is minimal due to low t.
Static Distribution System

In the static distribution system the incoming superheated product is first separated in
flash vapour and product. The product enters a distributor plate placed inside an open
cone, as the product enters the calandria. The cone is placed above a distributor bowl
with a number of holes. Here a certain level of product is maintained. The product
flows through the holes in the plate by gravity. Each hole is placed just above the area
between the tubes. Thus the product flows onto the tube plate and then over the edge
down along the surface of each tube. The flash vapour also enters the tubes and push-
es the product against the inner surface of the tubes giving it its initial velocity. See
Fig. 19.
This distribution system is much more flexible in respect of capacity, as an increase in

the level in the distributor bowl - as a result of increased capacity - will make the
product flow through the holes at a higher velocity, thus maintaining the level.
Preheaters
As the milk to be evaporated has a temperature of 5-10C it has to be heated to the

boiling temperature of the first effect in order to save steam for the evaporation. The
milk is therefore first passed through a vapour cooler/preheater, placed between the
last effect's separator and the condenser, thereby saving cooling water as well. From
the vapour cooler the milk is passed through the preheating section of the last effect
and then backwards to the first effect, before it enters the boiling section of the first
effect.
The preheating system can technically be carried out in two different ways:
 Spiral-tube preheaters
 Straight-tube preheaters
Spiral-Tube Preheaters
The spiral tubes are placed inside the heating rooms in the calandria surrounding the
falling-film tubes, thus being heated by vapour, see Fig. 20. The system is simple, but
does not offer the possibility of inspection for deposits or leakage.
- 41 -
Fig. 21 Straight-tube preheaters
External preheaters
- 42 -
Straight-Tube Preheaters
The straight-tube preheaters are placed vertically outside the evaporator and like the
spiral tubes heated by vapour from the corresponding calandria. See Fig. 21. The va-
pour connection is at the top of the calandria, so that uncondensable gasses can easily
be extracted. This ensures an optimum utilization of the heating surface of the evapo-
ration tubes. With this system inspection and manual cleaning are possible, if in rare
cases it should prove necessary. The heat transfer surface in the preheater is arranged
in groups of parallel tubes with small diameter resulting in a large surface. Each group
of tubes is connected by normal dairy fittings at the end. Due to the parallel flow the
holding time is very much shorter than that of the spiral tube preheater. The viscosity
of the final concentrate is therefore lower in evaporators equipped with straight-tube
preheaters.
The large surface of the preheaters and the temperature level prevailing during opera-
tion (40-65C) offers, however, optimal growth conditions for thermophilic bacteria.
After 14-16 h of operation a bio-film is formed on the inner surface of the preheaters,
where they can form spores. Unless special attention is paid, as discussed on page 49
in the chapter "Low Thermophilic Preheating Equipment" one cannot expect a 20
hours production without increase of thermophilic bacteria and their spores during the
last 4-5 hours of a 20 hour production.
Pasteurization/Holding Equipment
The temperature obtained from the last preheater is in multi-effect evaporators lower
than the boiling temperature in the first effect. Additional preheating is therefore nec-
essary to obtain the required 2-3C above the boiling temperature of the first effect. A
separate preheater heated by live steam, usually via a thermo-compressor, is then
used. However, some products may require higher temperatures, but the primary pur-
pose of heat treatment in an evaporator, apart from bacteriological requirements, is
not "pasteurization", but obtaining a tool to get functional properties in the final pow-
der. The reasons for the heat treatment are:
 Bacteriological requirements
 Heat classified skim milk powder
 Keeping quality of whole milk
 High-heat heat-stable milk powder
 Instant whole milk powder
Bacteriological Requirements
A pasteurization directly before the evaporation will naturally influence the bacteria
count in the final powder, and the higher the temperature and the longer the holding
the more efficient the killing.
- 43 -
Fig. 22 Mg WPNI/g powder as a function of the pasteurization

intensity, a relation between temperature and time
% Denaturation of ß-Lactoglobulin in Milk

DANNENBERG, 1986
10000
1000
Holding time (sec)
100
90%
10
60%
10% 30%
1 5%
60 80 100 120 140
Temperature (°C)
Fig. 22a % denaturation of β-lactoglobulin
Fig. 23 Development of free –SH groups as a function of pasteurization temperature
- 44 -
Heat Classified Skim Milk Powder
Skim milk powder is often produced according to a fixed degree of denaturation of the
whey proteins and is classified according to the whey protein nitrogen index (mg
WPNI/g powder) which expresses the content of undenaturated whey proteins. Differ-
ent temperature and time combinations have an influence on the index as shown in
Fig. 22, as well as % denaturation of -lactoglobulin in milk in Fig. 22a.
Keeping Quality of Whole Milk

When producing whole milk powder one problem is the shelf-life, as the fat easily be-
comes oxidized, if the powder is not packed using an inert gas. As a lot of powder is
shipped in bags, it is not possible to protect the powder effectively, and antioxidants
are in most cases not permitted.
By pasteurizing (direct) the milk prior to the evaporation to 90-95C and keeping the
temperature for ½-1 min., some natural antioxidants will be formed, as -SH groups,
originating from the aminoacids cystine, cysteine and methionine, are liberated and
will act as antioxidants. Higher pasteurization temperatures will form more -SH
groups, but they will react with casein and not be found in free form. See Fig. 23. The
free -SH groups will at the same time give the milk a cooked flavour, which, however,
is liked by many consumers.
High-Heat Heat-Stable Milk Powder

This type of powder is used for reconstitution for making evaporated, sterilized milk,
especially in the Far East. After reconstitution to 25-27% TS the product has to be
sterilized using temperatures of 120C or higher during 20 min. The heat stability of
the recombined product is controlled by the pasteurization temperature/time combina-
tion prior to the evaporation and drying. A direct contact heating system gives a better
result.
Pasteurization Temperature Interval C
indirect C from 60 to 80
direct C from 80 to 110 *)
direct C from 110 to 125
holding min. 2-4
*) In the heating interval from 80 to 110C a very fast heating is important to
avoid interaction between the whey proteins, in order to produce low vis-
cous products with good heat stability.
Instant Whole Milk Powder

To produce instant whole milk powder with good reconstitution properties in cold wa-
ter and at the same time with a good "coffee stability" - that is no coagulation should
- 45 -
Fig. 24 Switchable indirect heat exchangers
Fig. 25 Indirect spiral-tube heat exchanger working in

series, heated by steam and flash vapour
- 46 -
take place when the powder is added to hot coffee as a "whitener" - it is recommended
to use a temperature/time combination to achieve a WPNI of > 3.5 mg/g, which corre-
sponds to approx. 45% denaturation of -lactoglobulin, see further Fig. 22a.
The pasteurization can be carried out in different ways, either:
 Indirect in plate-, spiral- or straight-tube heat exchangers

 Direct steam injections into the milk or milk into a steam atmosphere
Indirect Pasteurization
The indirect heaters are working as ordinary heat exchangers, either the plate-tube or
spiral-tube type. If temperatures up to 110C are wanted, it is recommended to have
two heaters, where one is in operation while the other one is being cleaned, see
Fig. 24.
The advantage of the indirect heating is that the product will not be mixed with the
condensating steam and neither will the product be diluted. The disadvantage is that it
takes long time for the product to be heated in the interval from 80C to 110C result-
ing in a concentrate with high viscosity, because the whey proteins, when unrolled,
will react/denature with each other before the Kappa-casein is formed. For improved
efficiencies one or more regeneration systems can be incorporated, see Fig. 25.
Direct Pasteurization
The direct pasteurization is done in two different ways, either by direct steam injec-
tion, where the live steam is mixed into the milk using a Tangential Swirl Heater
(TSH), see Fig. 26. It offers a controlled and short residence time with no mechanical
impact, even at temperatures >120C. It can operate 20 hours or more without inter-
mediate cleaning. Alternatively, milk is sprayed into a steam atmosphere (infusion) at
a sufficient pressure. The steam must be of good quality, i.e. for use in products for
human consumption. Culinary steam boilers, where milk condensate is heated up in an
indirect coil-type heater by means of live steam, can be used. The advantage of direct
pasteurization is the short time it takes to reach the desired temperature. This means
that both unrolled whey proteins and Kappa-casein are available, and they can re-
act/denature with each other resulting in a low viscosity.
- 47 -
Fig. 26 Direct pasteurizing system with direct Tangential Swirl Heater

contact flash regenerative system
Growth temperatures Usual inactivation

(C) in milk by heat
Sporeforming Bacteria
Mini- Opti- Maxi- Vegetative
Spore
mum mum mum cell
B. Stearothermophilus 30-45 55-60 60-70 12 s 85C 8-15 m 121C
B. Cereus 5-20 30-37 45-48 10 s 72C 0.5 m 121C
B. Coagulans 15-25 35-50 55-60 20 s 72C 3-5 m 121C
B. Licheniformis 15 30-45 50-55 20 s 72C 3-5 m 121C
B. Subtilis 6-20 30-40 45-55 20 s 72C 3-5 m 121C
C. Botulinum 3 25-40 48 20 s 72C 3-4 m 121C
C. Perfringens 8-20 45 50 20 s 72C 1-4 m 121C
C. Tyrobutiricum 20 s 72C 1-4 m 121C
Fig. 26a Optimal bacteria growth conditions
- 48 -
The direct heating will further have a less pronounced effect on the denaturation of
the whey proteins at the same pasteurization temperature/time.
Whey protein denaturation Thiamin loss
Direct system 35% 0.5 - 0.8%

Indirect system 65% 1.4 - 4.4%
As for the indirect pasteurization, regenerative flash chambers are used, if high pas-
teurizing temperatures are needed. The temperature of the milk will drop due to the
evaporation, and the vapours are used for preheating prior to the pasteurizer. The re-
generative flash chamber can be either indirect as shown in Fig. 25, or direct contact
as shown in Fig. 26. The direct contact regenerative system is preferable, as there is
no heat contact surface, where deposits (bio-film) can develop.
The holding is practically always done in holding tubes, with specific length and di-
ameter to give the desired holding time. Holding vats, the so-called "hot well", have
been used, if holding times as long as 30 min. - especially for whey or permeate - are
required. It is, however, difficult to control the exact time and some of the product
might pass through in 5 min., whereas some would take very long.
The pasteurization temperature will of course have a direct influence on the total
steam consumption which will increase by increasing the temperature. For the same
pasteurization temperature the direct pasteurization will result in higher steam con-
sumption compared with indirect pasteurizing due to the need of evaporation of the
extra water formed by the condensation. However, the additional steam used is - after
flashing off - used as heating medium in the subsequent calandrias and some of the
applied energy is reused.
Preheating Equipment to prevent Thermophile Bacteria Growth
The last few years there has been a lot of focus on the content of spore forming ther-
mophilic bacteria in milk powder. It has been found that only after 12-16 hours' opera-
tion of a plant, the number of these bacteria starts to increase, and it increases exp o-
nentially.
Spore forming bacteria are bacteria which under adverse growth conditions, such as
too high or too low temperature or lack of nutrition transform themselves into a
dormant state - they sporulate and become extremely heat resistant. When growth
conditions become favourable again, they revegetate and develop. The vegetative cells
can be killed by heat treatment. Thermophilic bacteria typically grow between 45 and
70C, see Table Fig. 26a.
- 49 -
Product Out
Product In
Duplex Pre-Heater
Fig. 26b Duplex Preheater
- 50 -
It has been found that the development of thermophilic bacteria in evaporators takes
place in the preheaters, as that is the only place where bio-films are formed.
To ensure production of powder during a 20 hours operation without problems the

following can be done:
 Mid-run cleaning
 UHT treatment
 Duplex preheating system
 Contact preheating by direct steam injection
 Direct contact regenerative preheating
Mid-run cleaning
If the evaporator is cleaned after 10 hours, the problem is solved, but approx. 10% of
effective production time is lost, and further there are expenses for cleaning agents
and waste disposal.
UHT treatment
By heating the milk to 140C in 2-3 sec. after the preheaters, the problem is solved,
however, the dead cells are still traceable, and it will not be possible to make powders
with "tailor-made" functional properties.
Further, there will be additional steam consumption, and the max. running time is de-
pending on milk quality.
Duplex preheating system

By installing duplex preheaters, see Fig. 26b, it is possible to have a continuous run of
20 hours, as the preheaters are cleaned before the critical level has been reached. Ad-
ditional costs for cleaning and effluent treatment must be taken into account. Further,
the investment is higher, but the actual direct production costs and time are not affect-
ed.
Contact preheating by direct steam injection

As mentioned, the thermophile bacteria only develop in bio-films in the preheaters.
Therefore, the most obvious solution would be to by-pass the preheaters, where tem-
peratures are between 45 and 70C. This will, however, result in increased overall
steam consumption, as direct steam injection is necessary to bring up the temperature
from 45C to the pasteurization temperature, and further the water from dilution of the
condensing steam has to be evaporated again. If also mesophile bacteria and their
spores are a problem, then preheating from 6C is necessary.
- 51 -
Product In
45 o
Condensation
Steam / Vapour Mix
70 o
Product Out
Steam
Vapour
Direct Contact Pre-Heater Flash Chamber
Fig. 26c Direct contact preheater flash chamber
- 52 -
Direct contact regenerative preheating
By using a direct contact regenerative preheater of similar design as the direct contact
regenerative flash chambers (see page 49), the heating from 45C to 70C can be done
in fractions of a second without heat surfaces, where bio-films can be found.
The milk - after pre-heating to 45C in the last effect condenser for TVR plants, or in
a plate heat exchanger in an MVR plant - is pumped to the inlet of the direct contact
preheater, where vapour from one of the separators is introduced by means of live
steam through a small thermocompressor, see Fig. 6. Subsequent heating to the pas-
teurization temperature followed by regenerative flashing is done as discussed above,
see Fig. 26c. If mesophile bacteria and their spores are a problem, then the last effect
preheater is omitted and the regenerative heating is done already from 6C in similar
equipment as described above.
By applying this technology it is possible to operate the plant for 20 hours or more
without growth of mesophile and/or thermophile bacteria and their spores at a reduced
steam consumption compared to the UHT or direct steam injection solution.
Condensation Equipment
All evaporators in the dairy industry operate under vacuum and are therefore equipped
with air evacuation and condensation installation in order to condense the vapour that
can no more be utilized, and in order to create and maintain the vacuum in the plant.
The amount of heat the condenser has to discharge depends on the amount of residual
vapours from the last effect and their temperature.
In order to save cooling water and energy, the milk to be evaporated (with a tempera-
ture of 5-10C) is used to precool the vapours while the milk is simultaneously being
preheated. However, the final condensation is done with cooling water. As there will
always be some air and uncondensable gases in the milk to be evaporated and possibly
small leaks in the plant, it is necessary to have some equipment in order to extract this
air/gas for maintaining the vacuum. The same equipment is used to create the vacuum
during start-up.
For the purpose of condensing the vapours (and thereby maintaining the vacuum) two
types are used:
 Mixing condenser
 Surface condenser
- 53 -
Fig. 27 Mixing condenser
Fig. 28 Surface condenser
- 54 -
Mixing Condenser
In a mixing condenser numerous nozzles and plates are installed in order to get a good
mixing of the vapour and the cooling water, see Fig. 27, (practically the same princi-
ple as in the wet scrubber - see later). The water and condensed vapour are removed at
the bottom. As there will be the same vacuum in the mixing condenser as in the last
effect, the pump to remove the water and condensate should be capable of discharging
from this vacuum.
Another solution is to place the mixing condenser barometrically high, i.e. about 11
meter above the pump. The water will run into a well from where it is pumped away,
either to a cooling tower or to a natural water reservoir.
The advantage of the mixing condenser is low investment costs and lower cooling wa-
ter consumption. The disadvantage is that condensate is mixed with the cooling water
which may have the effect that the cooling tower is contaminated.
Surface Condenser
The surface condenser is working and built according to the same principle as an or-
dinary straight tube heat exchanger, see Fig. 28. The advantages of a surface conden-
ser is that cooling water and vapour condensate remain separate. As only the vapour
condensate has to be pumped out of the vacuum, it has never been considered to place
it barometrically as is the case for the mixing condenser. Surface condensers should
always be used in plants where acid products such as acid whey are evaporated in or-
der to separate acid vapour condensate from the cooling water.
Vacuum Equipment
As discussed, the vacuum in the last effect of the evaporator is a function of the
amount of cooling water and the temperature. The vacuum in the first and intermedi-
ate effects is created by the subsequent calandria acting as a condenser for the vapours
from the previous effect. Any change in the evaporation rate in one effect, due to foul-
ing for example (decrease of K factor), therefore means that less vapour is condensed.
This results in increased boiling temperature in the previous effect, the t decreases
and so does the overall evaporation capacity. Each effect is connected to the conden-
ser to ensure the deaeration of incondensable air and gas.
To create and maintain (due to the incondensable gases and leaks) the vacuum in the
evaporator, two types of pumps are used:
 Vacuum pump
 Steam jet vacuum unit
- 55 -
Fig. 29 Cooling tower
- 56 -
Vacuum Pump
Vacuum pumps such as the water-ring pump are used. Normally two units are in-
stalled; they are both used for quick start-up of the plant, while only one is used dur-
ing production. Only stainless steel material should be considered, as bronze - even it
is cheaper - has a very short lifetime, especially if the plant has to process whey, due
to corrosion.
Steam Jet Vacuum Unit

The steam jet vacuum unit is in principle designed like the thermo-compressor dis-
cussed earlier. This system has a low maintenance cost, but the additional steam re-
quirement should be taken into consideration.
Cooling Towers
Many factories are placed near lakes, rivers or other natural water reservoirs, and the
amount and temperature of cooling water are therefore no problem, provided the in-
creased temperature in the return water is not causing any environmental problems.
However, not all factories have got access to unlimited water supply, and the situation
where the cooling water requirement cannot be covered may arise. The problem could
be solved by recycling the water, but as the temperature increased by 10-15C for each
cycle the vacuum in the evaporator would soon disappear. By installing a cooling
tower, see Fig. 29, this problem is overcome. In the cooling tower the water is cooled
(how much depends on local conditions for ambient temperature and wet-bulb tem-
perature) by evaporation, as the water is distributed over a big surface, and a fan en-
sures the necessary air turbulence. The flow of water goes from the cooling tower to
the condenser from where it is pumped back to the cooling tower.
Due to the evaporation of water in the cooling tower water has naturally to be added,
but the amount is low. When a mixing condenser is used the extra water requirement
is practically nil, as the condensed vapours are mixed with the water. It is recom-
mended at certain intervals to renew the recycled water completely to avoid bacteria
growth.
High-Concentrators
In the baby-food industry, where the products are based on recombining the various
ingredients before spray drying, a high-concentrator is used to increase the solids con-
tent from typically 40-42% to 50-55%, all depending on composition. During the
evaporation all air incorporated during the recombination is evacuated resulting in a
powder with lowest possible occluded air content. The high-concentrator is equipped
- 57 -
Fig. 30 High concentrator and feed system
- 58 -
with a buffer tank with level control below the calandria and acts thus as "slave" for
the spray dryer, see Fig. 30.
Flash Coolers
Very often the required concentrate temperature is lower than the one obtained from
the last effect. The concentrate can naturally be passed over a cooling surface, such as
a plate heat exchanger, but as the viscosity is high at this stage, it is not recommend-
ed. Instead, flash coolers are used. The system is simple and consists only of a vacu-
um chamber (vacuum created by steam jet vacuum units) into which the concentrate is
sprayed. Depending upon the vacuum the concentrate will flash and due to the evapo-
ration a cooling will take place simultaneously resulting in a slight increase of the sol-
ids content. The flash cooler is mainly used for whey, where it is especially advanta-
geous, as the cooling takes place instantaneously, thereby avoiding problems with
crystallization of the lactose, which would create blockages between the plates.
Sealing Water Equipment
All falling-film evaporators have transport pumps for passing the milk concentrate
from one effect to another. The amount of pumps depends on the number of effects,
and whether the effects are split or not. As the pumps work under vacuum efficient
sealing is necessary to avoid any air leaking making it difficult to maintain the vacu-
um. This sealing is done with water. Each pump requires about 50-100 l/h of sealing
water of which normally ½-1 l/h enters the milk flow. The sealing water system may
be designed, so that each pump is furnished with a small funnel to see if there is any
excessive waste of sealing water and - which is more important - if a pump is sudden-
ly using more water than normal, which means that the sealing ring is wearing out.
Instrumentation and Automation
It is absolutely vital for a successful performance of the evaporator that the instrumen-
tation is well established, and that all the critical parameters are indicated on instru-
ments so that steps can be taken to avoid malfunctions.
Of important instrumentation can be mentioned:
 Flow meter for the raw milk

 Temperature of the raw milk
 Preheating temperature
 Pasteurizing temperature
 Heating and boiling temperature and pressures of each effect
- 59 -
Concentrate discharge pumps
- 60 -
Steam pressure available

 Steam pressure to the thermo-compressor
 Cooling water temperature
 Warm water temperature
 Vacuum
 Conductivity of condensate
 Density (solids content)
These instruments should be in a control panel centrally placed, preferably in a control

room, to make the operation easy.
As to the automation and degree of automation there are many opinions. However, as
the aim is a steady run without fluctuations the following control loops are recom-
mended:
 Feed flow
 Pasteurization temperature
 Steam pressure for thermo-compressor
 Solids content
 Vacuum/last effect boiling temperature
Feed Flow
The feed flow, i.e. the raw milk, is controlled automatically via a flow meter, which
can either a conventional type, or better based on inductive magnetic measurement.
Pasteurization Temperature
In order to be sure that the final powder has always been exposed to the wanted pas-
teurization temperature, this temperature is controlled automatically in most cases.
The system is simple and well known from plate heat exchangers where the steam
pressure controls the milk temperature by means of a simple steam pressure reduction
valve.
Steam Pressure for Thermo-Compressor (TVR)

In order to avoid fluctuations in the steam pressure, this should be kept constant. By
altering the steam pressure to the TVR it will change the amount and pres-
sure/temperature of the "mix vapour". The evaporation rate of the first effect, and
consequently of the whole evaporator, will change accordingly.
Solids Content
In order to produce a first class product the solids content should be kept constant. It
should also be kept constant in order to avoid overconcentration resulting in viscosity
increase with the risk of burnt deposits in the tubes or even blocking of the tubes.
- 61 -
Fig. 31 Density control by means of feed flow
Fig. 32 Density control by means Fig. 33 Density control by back-mixing liquid

of steam pressure/flow pasteurized milk or condensate
- 62 -
The solids content can be regulated in different ways, but the first thing to consider is
how to measure the solids content. This can be done by measuring the refractive index
or the density.
The refractive index in milk concentrate is determined by the refractive index of lac-
tose, minerals, fat and even the proteins and is a function of the concentration of each
of the mentioned components. This means, however, that the measured sum is subject
to changes according to seasonal variations in the milk composition. The factor (re-
fractive index x F = % solids) is therefore not constant, and frequent changes of the
factor should be made based on drying oven tests in the laboratory. The refractive in-
dex is converted to an electronic or pneumatic output suitable for the controller.
Another method is to measure the density of the liquid, as this will change directly
proportionally with the solids content. The density of the concentrate is measured
passing the concentrate through a fast vibrating U-tube. The vibrations will be re-
duced proportionally to the mass passed through. Thus it is possible to get an output
which can be used in the controller.
It is now possible to discuss what to do with the output from the controller, i.e. what
parameter to change to obtain a constant solids content:
Milk Flow:
The alteration of the milk flow means that the final amount of concentrate will alter.
With high evaporation ratios (whey for instance) a small change in the flow would
mean a tremendous change in the solids and amount of final concentrate, see Fig. 31.
This method, even though being simple, is not recommended, as it may easily result in
deposits due to coverage problems.
Steam Pressure to the Thermo-Compressor:
Regulating the steam pressure to the thermo-compressor is therefore more used, see
Fig. 32. However, as the total residence time in an evaporator is 8-20 min. it takes a
long time to get a response from a change. In large evaporators an extra control loop
is therefore often placed after the second or third effect.
Back-Mix of Liquid Pasteurized Milk to the Concentrate:
The third solution is to run the evaporator at a somewhat higher solids content (1-2%
higher) than necessary in the last effect but one, and then dilute with pasteurized milk
prior to entering in the last effect. In that way there will be no fluctuation in the so lids,
as the response is quick, and overconcentration in the last effect is avoided, see
Fig. 33.
- 63 -
Fig. 34 Vacuum control, regulating the amount of

cooling water in a mixing condenser
Fig. 35 Vacuum control, “bleeding system”

in a mixing condenser
- 64 -
Vacuum/last effect boiling temperature
The vacuum in the condenser and thereby in the last effect is controlled by the amount
of cooling water or in some cases by the so-called "bleeding system", where more or
less air via a valve is led into the condenser, i.e. the system runs with surplus water.
The two systems are shown in Fig. 34 and Fig. 35.
Concentrate Properties
The concentrate leaving the last effect of the evaporator is liquid. The concentrate
may however have different viscosity depending upon the composition, heat sensitivi-
ty of the proteins, pretreatment, temperature and solids content.
Whole milk concentrates are generally less viscous than skim milk concentrates, and
as a general rule the viscosity should not exceed 60 and 100 cP, respectively, if the at-
omization should be optimal.
Higher viscosities can of course be handled in the dryer, but not without losing ca-
pacity (bad atomization - big droplets) and an inferior product will be the result.
The composition will influence the viscosity, especially on the protein (P) content in
relation to the lactose (L) content. When the ratio P:L is high the concentrate will get
a high viscosity. This is especially a problem with jersey cows during the whole year,
but other breeds tend to give problems during the beginning of the lactation period.
The ratio P:L can be adjusted by adding lactose. As a general rule it can be concluded
that a higher fat and lactose content will give lower viscosity. Higher protein content
will give higher viscosity.
When milk is exposed to a high heat treatment, especially in indirect pasteurizing sys-
tems, prior to the evaporation, the viscosity of the concentrate will be higher.
The concentrate temperature will naturally have a direct influence on the viscosity and
higher temperature means lower viscosity.
The solids content of the concentrate will have a very significant influence on the vi s-
cosity, and the higher the concentration the higher the viscosity.
However, the above only states the direct influence of some parameters on the viscosi-
ty. One of the main influences on the viscosity is the time, i.e. the viscosity is a fun c-
tion of time, also known as age thickening. This means that the viscosity will increase
if the concentrate is left for some time. The increase is depending on composition,
mainly proteins binding to each other, temperature and concentration. The age-
thickening in only partly reversible by agitation.
- 65 -
Fig. 36 Age-thickening as a function of temperature (skim milk 48.5% solids)
Fig. 37 Age-thickening as a function of solids content (skim milk 55°C)
- 66 -
A temperature increase will naturally result in a viscosity drop; but as the age thicken-
ing is more pronounced at higher temperatures, the viscosity will soon increase to the
same level and further on as the time passes. See Fig. 36.
The age thickening will also be influenced by the solids content and will be more pro-
nounced the higher the solids content in the concentrate. See Fig. 37. The composition
will have same influence on the age thickening as on the viscosity. If the concentrate
should be kept for some length of time, or transported over long distances before fur-
ther processing, the concentration and temperature should be low. The low tempera-
ture will at the same time prevent bacterial growth.
The quality of the concentrate for spray drying should comply with the following
guide lines:
Skim milk
 Solids content: 48-50% TS
 Viscosity:
max. 100 Cp at 40C measured on the feed to be atomized. Measurements on
concentrate not older than 15 min. and kept under vacuum between evaporator and
sampling for viscosity measurements. Method Brookfield viscometer model LVT with
spindle 2, rotation 60 rpm, measured at 40C.
 Protein denaturation:
For instant products the WPNI should be 2.5-3.5 mg. For high bulk density powders
the WPNI should be max. 1.0 mg.
 Solubility index: no measurable amount.
 Sieving test:
no visible insolubles (cheesy flakes) on 250 micron mesh after passing 1 litre of
concentrate through the mesh and washing with water.
 Scorched particles: no measurable amount.
Whole Milk
 Solids content: 48-50% TS
 Viscosity:
Max. 60 Cp at 40C measured on the feed to be atomized. Measurements on
concentrate not older than 15 min. and kept under vacuum between evaporator and
- 67 -
- 68 -
sampling for viscosity measurements. Method Brookfield viscometer model LVT with
spindle 2, rotation 60 rpm, measured at 40C.
For instant products the WPNI should be 2.5-3.5 mg. For high bulk density powders
the WPNI should be max. 1.0 mg, based on SNF.
 Solubility index: no measurable amount.
 Sieving test:
Whey
 Solids content: min. 52% TS
 Crystallization degree: > 75% of the lactose to be crystallized,

mean crystal size: 30 microns
biggest crystal size: 50 microns
 Viscosity:
max. 1000 Cp at 40C measured on the feed to be atomized. Method Brookfield
viscometer model LVT with spindle 2, rotation 60 rpm, measured at 40C.
Whey proteins should be max. 25% denatured (approx. 80C, 15 sec. pasteurization in
evaporator)
 Solubility index: no measurable amount
 Sieving test:
- 69 -
Fig. 38 Spray drying plant
- 70 -
Spray Drying
By definition spray drying is the transformation of feed from a fluid state into a dried
form by spraying the feed into a hot drying medium. It is a one step continuous pro-
cessing operation. The feed can be either a solution, suspension or a paste. The dried
product conforms to powder consisting of single particles or agglomerates, all depend-
ing upon the physical and chemical properties of the feed and the dryer design and op-
eration. During the last three decades spray drying has undergone an intensive re-
search and development, so that modern equipment can meet the requirements to pro-
duce a powder with tailor-made specifications required by the end-user.
Spray drying in the dairy industry dates back to around 1800, but it was not until 1850
that it became possible in major scale to dry the milk. All processes, however, re-
quired addition of sugar, sulphuric acid or alkali, so that the end product could not be
considered pure.
One of the first spray drying patents was applied for in 1901 by the German Mr. Stauf
who sprayed the milk by means of nozzles into a chamber with warm air. The first re-
al break-through, however, was in USA in 1913, when the American Mr. Grey and the
Dane Mr. Jensen developed a nozzle spray dryer and started to produce and sell drying
installations on a commercial scale.
The first rotary atomizer was developed by the German Mr. Kraus in 1912, but not un-
til 1933, when the Danish engineer Mr. Nyrop filed his world patent, this way of at-
omization had a break-through.
After these pioneers had formed the basis for the modern dry milk industry the devel-
opment went fast, and the equipment installed nowadays is in most cases very sophis-
ticated and involves a highly technical and technological design.
A conventional spray dryer operates in the following way, see Fig. 38:
The feed is pumped from the product feed tank to the atomizing device which is lo-
cated in the air disperser in the top of the drying chamber. The drying air is drawn
from the atmosphere via a filter by a supply fan and is passed through the air heater to
the air disperser. The atomized droplets meet the hot air and the evaporation takes
place cooling the air at the same time. After the drying of the spray in the chamber,
the majority of the dried product falls to the bottom of the chamber and enters a
pneumatic conveying and cooling system. The fines, which are the particles with a
small diameter, will remain entrained in the air, and it is therefore necessary to pass
the air through cyclones for separation of fines. The fines leave the cyclone at the bot-
tom via a locking device and enters the pneumatic system, too. The air passes from
- 71 -
Fig. 39 Different types of drying champers
- 72 -
the cyclone to the atmosphere via the exhaust fan. The two fractions of powder are
collected in the pneumatic system for conveying and cooling and are passed through a
cyclone for separation, after which they are bagged off. The instrumentation compris-
es indication of the temperature of the inlet and outlet air, as well as automatic control
of the inlet temperature by altering the steam pressure, amount of oil or gas to the air
heater, and automatic control of the outlet temperature by altering the amount of feed
pumped to the atomizing device.
A conventional spray dryer consists of the following main components:
 Drying chamber (1)

 Hot air system and air distribution (2)
 Feed system (3)
 Atomizing device (4)
 Powder separation system (5)
 Pneumatic conveying and cooling system (6)
 Fluid bed after-drying/cooling (7)
 Instrumentation and automation (8)
Drying Chamber
Various designs of drying chambers are seen on the market. The most common one is
the cylindrical chamber with a cone of 40-60, so that the powder by gravity can leave
the chamber. The chamber is also seen with a flat bottom in which case a scraper or
suction device is needed for removing the powder fraction from the chamber. Also
horizontal box type drying chambers are seen, and they, too, operate with a forced (i.e.
scraper or screw) powder removal system. See the different types of drying chambers
in Fig. 39.
Generally, it can be concluded that chambers with a cone for gravity discharge of the
powder give the best flexibility for adapting various drying processes like integrated
fluid beds or belts to the plant and therefore offer the greatest possibilities for drying
different products.
The tendency today is to design the drying chamber, so that there will be nothing in-
side the chamber obstructing the air flow thus resulting in powder deposits.
In the tall-form drying chamber, the emphasis has been on designing a plant with a
laminar air flow and a special air outlet system, where the diameter of the cone is big-
ger than the diameter of the cylindrical part thus forming a ring duct termed a "bus-
tle". This minimizes the cyclone fraction by the low velocity of the exhaust air. This
chamber is specially suited for baby-food products or protein products dried from a
low solids content in the feed.
- 73 -
Fig. 40 Removable insulation panels

for spray drying chambers
Fig. 40a Filter standards

- 74 -
The development of CIP-able bag filters has made it possible to design drying cham-
bers with built-in bag filters, see page 150.
The drying chamber should always be equipped with inspection doors, light sources,
over-pressure vents, and other safety equipment such as fire extinguishing equipment
in the form of water or steam nozzles.
Drying chambers are usually insulated, either with removable air-filled sandwich pan-
els, see Fig. 40, or with 80-100 mm mineral wool covered with a stainless steel plate
or a galvanized plate covered with PVC. The advantage of the removable panels is
that inspection for cracks in the chamber wall is possible, and wet insulation material,
in which bacteria can develop or result in cold spots on the chamber wall whereupon
deposits are formed, is avoided.
Hot Air System and Air Distribution
Air Filtration
Until a few years ago no special requirements were given as to the filtration of the
process air for the spray drying process. Today, however, very strict requirements are
presented by local authorities in order to ensure a cleaner operation. Filter standards
are referred to in Fig. 40a, and it is important to refer to the test method when specify-
ing the filter efficiency in %. Common for the different requirements is that:
 The air should be prefiltered and supplied by a separate fan to the fan/filter/heater
room. This room must be under pressure to avoid unfiltered air to enter.
 Filtration degree and filter position depend on the final temperature of the process
air as follows:
- For main drying air to be heated above 120C only coarse filtration up to
90% is needed. The filter should be placed on the pressure side of the fan.
- For secondary air to be heated below 120C or not heated at all, the filtra-
tion must be 90-95%, and the filter must be placed after the heater/cooler.
Some countries have even stricter requirements demanding a filtration of
up to 99.995%, corresponding to EU13/14 (or H13/14).
 Current practice is as follows:
- Dairy-like products, equal to or better than 3A: Test method:

-Prefiltration EU4 (or G4) % Dust-spot efficiency
-Main air filtration EU7 (or F7) 90% Dust-spot efficiency
-Secondary air filtration EU7 (or F7) 90% Dust-spot efficiency
- 75 -
Indirect steam heated air heater
Fig. 41 Indirect oil-fired air heater
- 76 -
-Baby food products, equal to or better than IDF:

-Prefiltration EU6 (or F6) % Dust-spot efficiency
-Main air filtration EU7 (or F7) 90% Dust-spot efficiency
-Secondary air filtration EU9 (or F9) >95% Dust-spot efficiency
Air Heating System
The drying air can be heated in different ways:
 Indirect: Steam / Oil / Gas / Hot oil
 Direct: Gas / Electricity
Indirect Heating
A steam heater is a simple radiator. The temperature to be obtained depends on the
steam pressure available. Under normal conditions it is possible to obtain air tempera-
tures 10C lower than the corresponding saturation enthalpy of the steam.
Modern steam heaters are divided in sections, so that the cold air first meets the co n-
densate section, then a section with low steam pressure (which is usually the biggest
one in order to utilize as much low-pressure steam as possible), and then the air final-
ly enters the high-pressure steam section. The air heater consists of rows of finned
tubes housed in an insulated metal case. The heat load is calculated from the quantity
and specific heat of the air. The heater size depends upon the heat transfer properties
of the tubes and fins and is usually about 50 Kcal/C x h x m3 for an air velocity of 5
m/sec. Steam-heated air heaters will usually have an efficiency of 98-99%. As the
steam boiler is usually placed at some distance from the air heater, 2-3 bar g extra
pressure on the boiler should be anticipated due to pressure loss in the steam pipe and
over the regulating valve. To avoid corrosion of the tubes in the air heater it is rec-
ommended to use stainless steel.
In indirect oil and gas heaters drying air and combustion gases have separate flow pas-
sage. The combustion gases pass through galvanized tubes that act as heat transfer
surface for the drying air. The combustion chamber is made of heat-resistant steel.
The end cover of the heater should be removable for cleaning of tubes. Heaters of this
type will in the range of 175-250C have an efficiency of about 85%. See Fig. 41.
Hot oil liquid phase air heaters are used either alone, or when high inlet drying air
temperatures are required, and the steam pressure is not high enough. The heater sys-
tem consists of a heater, which can be gas- or oil-fired, and an air heat exchanger. Be-
tween these two components a special food-grade oil or heat transfer fluid, which does
not crack at high temperatures, is circulated at high speed. The main advantage of hot
oil liquid phase is the open pressure-less system.
- 77 -
Direct gas fired air heater
- 78 -
Direct Heating
Direct gas heaters are only used when the combustion gas can be allowed to come into
contact with the product. They are therefore not common in the food and dairy indus-
tries. The direct gas heater is cheap, it has a high efficiency, and the obtainable tem-
perature can be as high as 1650C. When a plant is designed with an air heater with
direct combustion, it is necessary to calculate the amount of vapour resulting from the
combustion (44 mg/kg dry air/C), as this will increase the humidity in the drying air.
The outlet temperature has therefore to be increased in order to compensate for this
increase in the humidity and to maintain the relative humidity.
Combustion of natural gas (methane) takes place according to the following stoichio-
metric reaction formula:
CH4 + 2 O2  2 H2O + CO2 + Heat
The oxygen for the combustion originates from the atmospheric air with 21% O 2 and
79% N2.
All combustion yields small quantities of oxides of nitrogen as a result of the reaction
of nitrogen and oxygen at elevated temperatures. Subsequent nitrogen oxide NO and
nitrogen dioxide NO2 formation occurs and is referred to as the sum (NO x) of the two.
It should be noted that high combustion temperatures, high heat transfer rates, high
excess air, and low residence time in the combustion chamber are all factors increas-
ing the formation of NO x.
For comparison the following approximate NO x concentration prevails:
Cigarette smoke: 4000 ppm

Exhaust gas from a car: 2000 ppm
Heavy traffic intersection: 900 ppm
Natural gas boiler stack: 75 ppm
WHO food limit for infants: 45 ppm
Spray drying chamber: 2-5 ppm
Normal fresh milk: <1 ppm
Normal water supply: 0.1 ppm
The level of NOx in the process air after the direct fired natural gas air heater will de-
pend on many variable factors, however, with a well adjusted air heater it should be
limited to the above. Only about 2% of the NO x formed will be absorbed in the milk
powder.
The level of NOx in milk powder depends not only on the method used for heating the
process air, but also on the type of food used for the cows, as well as on the type of
fertilizer and soil used for producing the food.
- 79 -
Fig. 42 Air Disperser, horizontal box dryer
- 80 -
The NOx level in milk powder is:
Indirect heating: Traces - 2 ppm

Direct heating: 1 - 3.5 ppm
and the level of nitrates (NO 3) is in the order of 5-10 times the level of nitrites (NO 2).
Electric air heaters are common on laboratory and pilot plant spray dryers. The heater
has low investment costs, but is expensive in operation and therefore not used in i n-
dustrial size plants.
Air Distribution
The air distribution is one of the most vital points in a spray dryer. There are various
systems depending on the plant design and the type of product to be produced.
Dryer design falls into three categories: co-current, counter-current and mixed flow.
However, as the goal in the dairy industry is to get the best mixture of the hot incom-
ing air and the concentrate droplets in order to obtain a fast evaporation, only co-
current dryer design is used.
If the dryer is with a horizontal chamber, the air disperser is arranged like a plenum
chamber, and each nozzle will be surrounded by an air stream. The same system is al-
so seen in vertical cylindrical dryers, see Fig. 42. However, the most common is that
the air disperser is situated on top of the dryer ceiling, and the atomizing device is
placed in the middle of the air disperser thus ensuring an optimal mixing of the air and
the atomized droplets. In cylindrical vertical dryers it is also seen that the whole ceil-
ing is perforated thus creating a plug-flow air stream - numerous nozzles are situated
in the perforated plate in order to ensure that the air is cooled by the concentrate. This
system, however, makes fines return complicated, and the obtainable air veloci-
ty/nozzle position is not optimal for an efficient drying. It should be noted that an air
disperser should have the ability to guide the air and the atomized droplets in the right
direction in order to avoid deposits in the drying chamber.
On big capacity dryers equipped with nozzles, the so-called "multi-neck" air disperser
is seen, i.e. the dryer is equipped with 3-5 air dispersers and nozzle units. The center
area in the ceiling between the air dispersers is, however, impossible to keep free from
deposits, and uniform fines return is difficult.
Today two different types of air dispersers are used in spray dryers for food and dairy
products:
- 81 -
Fig. 43 Ceiling air disperser with adjustable guide vanes
Fig. 44 Plug-flow air disperser
Fig. 45 Feed system
- 82 -
Rotary air stream
The air enters tangentially into a spiral-shaped distributor housing, see Fig. 43, from
where the drying air is led radially and downward over a set of guide vanes for ad-
justment of the air rotation. This type of air disperser is used for rotary atomizers and
nozzle atomizers placed in the centre of the air disperser. Very important is the cool-
ing ring. This can be closed or open depending on product, at the edge of the ceil-
ing/air inlet, in order to avoid powder deposits, which get discoloured and result in
scorched particles in the powder, or even in a fire.
Plug-flow air stream

The air enters radially through one side and is distributed through an adjustable air
guiding arrangement, see Fig. 44. This type of air disperser is used for nozzle atomiz-
ers, where a laminar plug-flow air stream is wanted. As for the rotary air disperser
cooling air is also used here. As the nozzle rods are placed in the middle of the hot air
stream, cooling air is also provided for the nozzles lances to keep the product from
over-heating.
Feed System
The feed system, see Fig. 45, is the link between the evaporator and the spray dryer and
comprises:
 Feed tanks (1)
 Water tank (2)
 Concentrate pump (3)
 Preheating system (4)
 Filter (5)
 Homogenizer/high-pressure pump (6)
 Feed line, incl. return line for CIP (7)
Feed Tanks
It is recommended to use two feed tanks and change from one to the other at least
once every 4 hours. This is due to the risk of bacteria growth in the feed normally hav-
ing a temperature of 45-50C. One is therefore in use while the other one is being
washed. The size of each tank should correspond to 15-30 min. of the capacity of the
dryer. The feed tanks are equipped with level indicators and spray nozzles for auto-
matic CIP cleaning. Sometimes, the feed tanks are replaced by vacuum tanks as an in-
tegrated part of the last calandria of the evaporator.
- 83 -
Heating Media In
Product Out
Heating Media In
Product In
Heating Media Out
HIPEX Concentrate Heater Heating Media Out
Fig. 46 HIPEX heat exchanger
- 84 -
Water Tank
The water tank is used during start and stop of the plant, and if during the run there
will be a sudden shortage of concentrate. Alternatively, level transmitters can be
placed in the feed tanks, and a water supply pipe connected to the feed tank, in which
case the water tank is avoided.
Concentrate Pump
If a rotary atomizer is used, the most common feed pump is either the mono type or a
centrifugal pump. The mono pump requires less energy and can handle concentrates
of a higher viscosity than the centrifugal pump, but is more expensive.
Preheating System
Nozzle atomization requires higher feed temperature (lower viscosity) than that coming
from the evaporator. Preheating is, however, advantageous from an atomization point of
view, also for rotary atomization. Therefore, a concentrate preheater is recommended.
Two types can be used, either indirect or direct.
Indirect preheaters are of the type:

 Plate heat exchanger
 Tube-in-Tube heat exchanger
 Scraped surface heat exchanger
Plate Heat Exchanger

A plate heat exchanger system is cheap, but if the concentrate should be heated to 60-
65C and the solids content is 45-46%, and if 20 hours' run is aimed at, it is necessary
to have two interchangeable heaters allowing one to be cleaned while the other one is
being used. Steam, warm water or condensate from the first effect of the evaporator
can be used as heating medium.
Tube-in-Tube Heat Exchanger

A very simple and maintenance-free concentrate preheater is the HIPEX tube-in-tube
heat exchanger (see Fig. 46) with corrugated tubes giving a high heat transfer rate due
to the turbulence created by the corrugated tubes, which also reduce fouling on the
heat transfer surface. The heating media is typically hot water, and the unit is designed
with counter-current product/double heating media flow with the product in the mid-
- 85 -
Fig. 47 Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger
Homogenizer
- 86 -
dle. A very low temperature difference (< 5C) allows 20 hours operation between
cleaning.
Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger

See Fig. 47. In the scraped surface heater the heat transfer surface is continuously be-
ing scraped off by a fast rotating scraper made of food-grade synthetic material to
avoid any product adherence resulting in burnt deposits with reduced heat transfer as a
consequence. The scraped surface heater is especially suited for products with high
solids content. They can operate continuously for 20 hours and are cleaned together
with the remaining feed system.
The scraped surface heat exchanger is not recommended for products containing crys-
tals like precrystallized whey or permeate, due to wear problems.
Direct preheaters are of the type:
 Direct Steam Injection DSI

 Lenient Steam Injection LSI™
Direct Steam Injection DSI

In the DSI unit the steam is introduced into the milk concentrate via a nozzle produc-
ing relatively big steam bubbles resulting in a superheating of some parts of the con-
centrate which leads to protein denaturation.
Lenient Steam Injection LSI™

In the LSI™ unit (patented) the steam is mixed into the concentrate by a dynamic
mixer. Very small steam bubbles are created, and superheating/denaturation is avoid-
ed. Therefore, a higher steam pressure can be used. The LSI™ unit is often used in
combination with other heat exchangers, if temperatures above 75C are required in
the concentrate.
Preheating of concentrate is advantageous, not only from a bacteriological point of

view. It also results in a viscosity decrease, which together with the applied calories
results in a capacity increase of minimum 4% on the spray dryer and an improved sol-
ubility of the produced powder.
Filter
An in-line filter is always incorporated in the feed system to avoid lumps etc. passing
to the atomizing device.
- 87 -
Fig. 47a Viscosity of whole milk concentrates as a function of homogenization

pressure and solids content in the concentrate
Feed tanks system Fig. 47b NanoValve®
- 88 -
Homogenizer/High-Pressure Pump
If whole milk powder or other fat-containing products should be produced, it is rec-

ommended to incorporate a homogenizer in order to reduce the free fat content in the
final powder. A two-stage homogenizer is preferred. First stage is operated at 70-100
bar g, and the second stage at 25-50 bar g. Usually the homogenizer and feed pump
are combined in one unit. If nozzle atomization is used then a higher pressure (up to
250 bar g for the nozzles + 150 bar g for homogenizing) is required, and a combined
homogenizer/high-pressure pump is chosen to save cost. A variable speed drive for
controlling the feed flow and thereby the outlet temperature is preferred, as a return
valve tends to give uncontrollable holding time resulting in viscosity problems. The
viscosity as function of homogenization pressure and solids content in the concentrate
is seen in Fig. 47a. To save energy, but on the account of investment cost, the homog-
enizer and high-pressure pump are installed as separate units, and the homogenizer is
equipped with a NanoValve®, see Fig. 47b, which will result in an improved homog-
enization efficiency at lower pressure.
Feed Line
The feed pipe should naturally be of stainless steel and of course of the high-pressure
type, if the atomization is to be carried out by means of nozzles. The dimension
should be so that the feed velocity is approx. 1.5 m/sec. In a feed system a return pipe
and a device to clean the rotary atomizer, incl. the wheel, as well as the nozzle lances,
should also be included for the cleaning solution, so that the entire equipment can be
thoroughly cleaned.
Atomizing Device
The aim of atomizing the concentrate is to provide a very large surface, from which
the evaporation can take place. The smaller droplets, the bigger surface, the easier
evaporation, and a better thermal efficiency of the dryer is obtained. The ideal from a
drying point of view would be a spray of drops of same size, which would mean that
the drying time for all particles would be the same for obtaining an equal moisture
content. In practice, however, no atomizing device has yet been designed to produce a
completely homogenous spray, although present designs have a high degree of homo-
geneity. From a powder bulk density point of view a homogenous spray is not wanted,
as this would mean a powder with low bulk density, and that would mean an increase
in packing material. It is, however, so that today's achievement of atomizing facilitates
both the drying and the powder bulk density.
- 89 -
Fig. 48 High-pressure nozzle, “Delavan”
Fig. 49 High-pressure nozzle, “Spraying System”
- 90 -
As mentioned previously the air distribution and atomization are the key factors to a
successful utilization of the spray dryer. The atomization is directly responsible for
many distinctive advantages offered by the spray drying. First, the very short drying
time of the particles can be mentioned, secondly a very short particle retention time in
the hot atmosphere and low particle temperature (wet bulb temperature) and finally
the transformation of the liquid feed into a powder with long storage stability ready
for packing and transport.
Summarized, the prime function of atomization is:
 a high surface to mass ratio resulting in high evaporation rates,

 production of particles of the desired shape, size and density.
To comply with these requirements many atomization techniques have been used in
spray dryers. However, the most common ones can be summarized as follows:
 Pressure energy as in pressure nozzles

 Kinetic energy as in two-fluid nozzles
 Centrifugal energy as in rotating discs
The mechanism of atomization has been studied by many scientists, and though the
first pioneers started more than 100 years ago, the subject is still highly controversial
in spite of many published data.
Pressure Nozzle Atomization
The basic function of pressure nozzles is to convert the pressure energy supplied by
the high-pressure pump into kinetic energy in form of a thin film, the stability of
which is determined by the properties of the liquid such as viscosity, surface tension,
density and quantity per unit of time, and by the medium into which the liquid is
sprayed.
Most commercially available pressure nozzles, see Fig. 48 and 49, are designed with a
swirl chamber giving the liquid a rotation, so that it will leave the orifice, the second
main component of a pressure nozzle, as a hollow cone. In addition to above charac-
teristic design, the obtained spray pattern is a function of the operating pressure. Ca-
pacity (spraying water) can usually be assumed directly proportional to the square root
of the pressure:
Capacity kg/h = K x P (11)
As rule-of-thumb it can be established that higher viscosity, liquid density and surface
tension and lower pressure will result in bigger particles.
- 91 -
Fig. 50 Two-fluid nozzle
- 92 -
Many proposed correlations have been reported, but the one below can be used with a
certain degree of confidence:
   
1,5
   
0,5  0,45

 
 Q  
dS = 157   + 597   x    (12)
P 
 PL  
 Kn x d  P 
o  PL 
0,5
 
 
   
Where:
ds = volume particle mean diameter of the spray (microns)

 = surface tension of liquid (dynes/cm)
P = nozzle pressure (p.s.i.)
 = viscosity of liquid (poises)
PL = liquid density gm/cc
Q = volumetric feed rate / unit of time
Kn = nozzle constant (depending on spray angle)
do = orifice diameter (inches)
Two-Fluid Nozzle or Pneumatic Atomization
The energy available for atomization in two-fluid atomizers is independent of liquid

flow and pressure. The necessary energy (kinetic) is supplied by compressed air. The
atomization is created due to high frictional shearing forces between the liquid surface
and the air having a high velocity even at sonic velocities and sometimes rotated to
obtain maximum atomization. See Fig. 50.
Two-fluid atomization is the only successful nozzle method of producing very small
particles, especially from highly viscous liquids. The relation between drop size and
operation conditions has been sought and many scientists have tried to calculate the
mean diameter. The best known is:
0,45
1410      
0,5 1,5
 1000 
dS =   + 191   x  (13)
V  PL   ( PL)   J 
Where:
ds = volume particle mean diameter (microns)
V = velocity of the air relative to the liquid at the nozzle orifice (ft/sec.)
 = surface tension (dynes/cm)
PL = liquid density (lbs/ft 3)
 = viscosity (centipoise)
J = air/liquid volume ratio at air and liquid orifices resp.
- 93 -
Rotary atomizer with direct drive
- 94 -
Rotary Atomization
In rotary atomizers the liquid is continuously accelerated to the wheel edge by centrif-
ugal forces, produced by the rotation of the wheel. The liquid is distributed centrally
and then extends over the wheel surface in a thin sheet, discharged at high speed at the
periphery of the wheel. The degree of atomization depends upon peripheral speed,
properties of the liquid, and feed rate.
The wheel should be designed, so that it will bring the liquid up to the peripheral
speed prior to the disengagement. Very often the wheels are therefore with vanes of
different design to prevent liquid slippage over the internal surface in the wheel. The
vanes also concentrate the liquid at the disc edge, producing there a liquid film analo-
gous to the one considered in pressure nozzles. The wheel will act as a fan and air is
sucked into the concentrate due to the rotation. Different wheel designs and properties
decide how much air is incorporated in the atomized droplets. See page 213.
In spite of intensive investigations into the mechanism of atomization from rotating

atomizer wheels, the prediction of spray characteristics still remains uncertain. The ef-
fect of individual variables has been established over a limited range and there is only
a few dealing with high capacity, high speed industrial atomizers. However, the rela-
tion between droplet size and various products and operation characteristics is as fo l-
lows:
Liquid feed rate:

Droplet size varies directly with feed rate at constant wheel speed, and will increase with
increased feed rate (power of 0.2)
Peripheral speed:
The peripheral speed is depending on the diameter of the wheel and the wheel speed and is
calculated as follows:
 xDxN
Vp = (14)
1000 x 60
Where:
Vp = Peripheral speed (m/sec)
D = Diameter of the wheel (mm)
N = Speed of the wheel (r.p.m.)
The peripheral speed is widely accepted as the main variable for adjustment of a spec-
ified droplet size. However, it has been shown that droplet size does not necessarily
remain constant, if equal peripheral speeds are produced in wheel designs of various
diameter and speed combinations, and there is a tendency that bigger wheels pro-
- 95 -
- 96 -
duce bigger particles all other things being equal. However, in the choice of wheel di-
ameter one should rather look at the reliability of the atomizer, as the differences in
spray characteristics are negligible. Further, smaller wheels are easier to handle when
cleaned.
Viscosity of the liquid:

Droplet size varies directly with the viscosity (power of 0.2) and bigger particles are
therefore obtained when the viscosity in the feed becomes higher. In order to ensure
an optimal atomization, the viscosity is therefore normally kept as low as possible, of-
ten by heating the concentrate prior to the atomization. Regarding droplet size distri-
bution this becomes broader with increased viscosity - an effect sometimes used when
powder bulk density is to be increased.
The prediction of the mean droplet diameter can be summarized in the following
equation which was evaluated for peripheral speeds not over 90 m/sec. However, ex-
perimental results from tests with peripheral speeds up to 150-160 m/sec. have indi-
cated that there is a close agreement between the results obtained using the formula
from above mentioned tests:
0,2
 1    1 nh 
0,6
 M 
DVS = K x r x 
1
 x   x P xnxh (15)
  
 P1 Nr2   MP   MP 
2
Where:
Dvs = Sauters mean diameter in ft (add 15-20% to get volume mean diameter)
K1 = Constant depending on the atomizer (0.37-0.40)
r = Radius of the wheel in ft
Mp = Mass flow per total wetted periphery (lbs/min. x ft)
P = Liquid density, lbs/ft 3
N = Atomizer speed, rpm
 1
= Viscosity, lbs/ft. x min.
 = Surface tension, lbs/min 2
n = Number of vanes
H = Height of vanes, ft.
Above mentioned formulas for predicting the mean diameter should naturally only be
used as a guide and are only stated to give the readers an idea of the relation between
the mean diameter and the various technical and technological parameters.
- 97 -
Pressure nozzle atomizer assembly

with fines return arrangement
- 98 -
Atomization in Spray Dryers for Milk Products

In the dairy industry only:
 Pressure nozzles
 Rotary atomizers
are used, as the pneumatic nozzle requires too high energy and the resulting powder
consists of too fine particles and is therefore not attractive to the consumer.
Pressure Nozzles
The pressure nozzles can be divided into two groups:
 High-pressure low-capacity nozzles

 Low-pressure high-capacity nozzles
The high-pressure low-capacity nozzles are mainly used in box dryers working as one-
stage dryers, see page 123, and operate at a high pressure 300-400 bar g. Each nozzle
will have a capacity of 50-150 kg concentrate, usually with only 40-42% solids, if a
reasonable solubility should be maintained in the powder. The actual plant will there-
fore be equipped with numerous nozzles, all of which are with very small orifices
which get easily blocked. Normally, the powder has a high bulk density, but tends to
be dusty, as it consists of small particles. Due to the low solids requirements the dry-
ing becomes at the same time expensive.
The low-pressure high-capacity nozzles with a capacity of up to 1000-1500 kg/h have

gained more and more use after the development of the two-stage drying process,
where the particle temperature is much lower. The solids content can therefore be in-
creased to 48% and the pressure decreased (150-200 bar g) without affecting the solu-
bility, thus making nozzle atomization interesting also from an economical point of
view.
The advantages of pressure nozzles can be summarized as follows:
 Powder with low occluded air

 Powder with high bulk density
 Improved flowability, especially in whole milk
 Tendency to give less deposits in the drying chamber
when difficult products are produced
 Ability to produce big particles
 If a dual feed/nozzle system is used, the drying plant can operate continuously 24
h/day for weeks without stop, only the feed line/nozzles are wet-cleaned after 20
hours.
- 99 -
Fig. 51 Center cyclone
- 100 -
Rotary Atomizer
The rotary atomizer has been known and used in the dairy industry for many years, the
main advantages are:
 Flexibility as to through-put
 Ability to handle large quantities
 Ability to handle highly viscous concentrates
 Different wheel designs giving different powder characteristics
 Ability to handle products with crystals
 Higher solids content in the feed is possible, therefore better economy
To decide whether to use pressure nozzles or rotary wheel is therefore a question of

type of product.
For conventional milk products as well as crystallized whey concentrate the rotary
wheel will be the preferred atomizing device, whereas for very high density powders
and instant whole milk powder and other products with high fat content, the high-
capacity low-pressure nozzles should be used in connection with two-stage drying.
As it is impossible to predict what type of product should be produced tomorrow,

there has been a tendency to select dryers capable of using both systems, i.e. they
should be directly interchangeable.
Powder Separation System

As the drying air will contain a small proportion of powder (10-30%) when it leaves
the chamber, it is necessary for economic reasons, but also because of pollution prob-
lems, to clean the drying air by separating the powder particles. This powder fraction
is usually referred to as the fines, as they normally represent the smallest particles.
The most used separators in the milk powder industry are:

 Cyclone
 Bag filter
 Wet scrubber
 CIP-able bag filter
Cyclone
The cyclone has some obvious advantages, such as high efficiency, if it is constructed
properly, it is easily maintained as there are no moving parts, and, furthermore, it is
easy to clean, if the construction is with a fully welded centre cyclone, see Fig. 51.
- 101 -
Fig. 52 Cyclone Fig. 53 Cyclone battery with central hopper
Fig. 54 Rotary valve with conical rotor
- 102 -
The operation theory is based on a vortex motion where the centrifugal force is acting
on each particle and therefore causes the particle to move away from the cyclone axis
towards the inner cyclone wall. However, the movement in the radial direction is the
result of two opposing forces where the centrifugal force acts to move the particle to
the wall, while the drag force of the air acts to carry the particles into the axis. As the
centrifugal force is predominant, a separation takes place.
Powder and air pass tangentially into the cyclone at equal velocities. Powder and air
swirl in a spiral form down to the base of the cyclone separating the powder out to the
cyclone wall. Powder leaves the bottom of the cyclone via a locking device. The clean
air spirals upwards along the centre axis of the cyclone and passes out at the top. See
Fig. 52.
The centrifugal force each particle is exposed to can be seen in this equation:
m x Vt 2
C= (16)
r
Where:
C = centrifugal force
m = mass of particle
Vt = tangential air velocity
r = radial distance to the wall from any given point
From this equation it can be concluded that the higher particle mass, the better effi-
ciency. The shorter way the particle has to travel the better efficiency, and the closer
the particle is to the wall the better efficiency, because the velocity is highest and the
radial distance is short.
However, time is required for the particles to travel to the cyclone wall, so a sufficient
air residence time should be taken into consideration when designing a cyclone.
From above equation it is evident that small cyclones (diameter less than 1 m) will
have the highest efficiency, a fact generally accepted.
However, the big tonnage dryers in operation in the dairy industry nowadays would
require many cyclones (a cyclone battery). As each cyclone has to have an outlet for
powder in form of a rotary valve, pneumatic valve or flap valve, this means that there
is a big risk of air leaks which will reduce the cyclone efficiency. The small cyclones
can also be connected to one central hopper, and only one valve is then necessary, see
Fig. 53. This means however, that unless there is exactly the same pressure drop over
each cyclone, air and powder will pass from one cyclone to another via the bottom
outlet. This will result in decreased efficiency and increased powder loss. Cleaning the
many small cyclones is a problem, as it is a time consuming job, and with the many
corners there is a risk of a bacterial infection.
- 103 -
Fig. 55 Critical particle diameter and grade efficiency curves for a cyclone
- 104 -
For above reasons the cyclones have become bigger and bigger and are now con-
structed with diameters of 2.5-3 m, each handling 25,000-30,000 kg of air/h.
When designing a cyclone various key figures should be taken into account in order to
obtain the highest efficiency. This is achieved if
cyclone diameter
3
exit duct diameter
cyclone height
 10
exit duct diameter
Air through-put (velocity Vt) and increased pressure drops will also increase the effi-
ciency, but the energy requirement will increase simultaneously, so in general the up-
per limit is 175-200 mm WG for skim milk powder. 140-160 mm WG is the maxi-
mum for whole milk in order to avoid deposits and final blocking.
In most cases rotary valves are used as air lock and product discharge at the bottom of
the cyclone as shown in Fig. 54. The conical type allowing for easy adaption of the
gap between the housing and the rotor should be preferred as the powder loss may be
reduced.
In order to know a cyclone's efficiency the following terms have to be defined:
a) The critical particle diameter

b) The cut size
c) The overall cyclone efficiency
a) The critical particle diameter is defined as the particle size that will be com-
pletely removed from the air flow (100% collection efficiency). However, as
there is no sharply defined point where a particle size is 100% separated or
100% lost the critical particle diameter is not very valuable.
b) The cut size is defined as the size for which 50% collection is obtained and is a
much better value for stating the efficiency of cyclones. To determine a cy-
clone's cut size, grade efficiency curves are worked out by systematically operat-
ing a cyclone with a uniform particle size dust. See Fig. 55.
c) The overall cyclone efficiency is the one obtained when handling a product of
definite size distribution. Knowing the grade efficiency curve of the cyclone and
the product size distribution of the powder passing to the cyclones, the overall
efficiency can be calculated, i.e. the powder loss can be predicted.
Another method of learning the cyclone efficiency is by a simple powder loss meas-
urement after the cyclone. A very small fraction of the out-going air is passed through
- 105 -
Fig. 56 Bag filter Fig. 57 Spray dryer with bag filter
By-pass system between bag filter and exhaust fan
Fig. 58 Sanitary wet scrubber
- 106 -
a high-efficient mini cyclone or through micro dust filters. The amount of powder
collected is directly proportional to the powder loss, which will mainly be a result of:
 Feed with low solids or feed containing air

 High outlet air temperature
 Low particle density (as a result of the above, for example)
 Leaking product outlet from old non-adjusted rotary valves
 Blocked cyclone
 Change in drying parameter resulting in decrease of mean particle size
 Old cyclones, dented due to heavy beating to avoid blockings
Bag Filters
Average powder loss from a normal high-efficient cyclone should not exceed 0.5%
(250 mg/Nm3) when spray drying skim milk. However, today authorities conclude
that 0.5% is too high a figure. From 2007 the EU requires a powder loss of <10
mg/Nm3. Final cleaning of the air is therefore necessary. This is usually done in bag
filters consisting of numerous bags or filters arranged so that each bag receives equal
quantities of air. The direction of the air is from outside in through the filter material
to the inner part of the bag from where the cleaned air enters an exhaust manifold.
With a correct selection of filter material high efficiencies can be obtained and collec-
tion of 1 micron particles is reported from the manufacturers. The collected powder is
automatically shaken off by blowing compressed air via a Coanda venturi nozzle posi-
tioned inside the top part of each bag. The powder is collected at the bottom via a ro-
tary valve. See Fig. 56 and 57.
The bag filter may also replace the cyclones, a solution often chosen for one-stage
dryers for whey protein powder or egg white. To prevent condensation, especially on
the conical part of the filter housing, warm air or heat tracing is established.
Wet Scrubbers
The wet scrubber has been known for many years in the chemical industry. It is based
on the venturi scrubber principle. When introduced in the dairy industry, it proved es-
pecially efficient, i.e. an efficiency very close to 100%.
The droplet separator is designed according to the well-known cyclone principles,

however with a modified outlet, resulting in a minimum liquid level, thereby minimiz-
ing bacteria growth, and a design reducing foam building. However, use of anti-foam
agents is required, depending on the product being dried.
The principle in the venturi wet scrubber is the following: - See Fig. 58
- 107 -
Fig. 59 Wet scrubber recycled with water
Fig. 59a Wet scrubber recycled with milk
- 108 -
The outlet air from the spray dryer containing powder particles is accelerated to a high
velocity in the venturi inlet, where also the liquid is injected through full-cone noz-
zles. Due to different velocities between the air/particles and the liquid droplets, they
will collide, and the powder will dissolve in the liquid droplets. Passing through the
subsequent diffuser the dissolving process will continue simultaneously with a certain
pressure recovery of the air/droplet mix.
Passing through the separator, air and liquid are separated again. The air leaves
through the centre duct and the liquid - having reached the wet bulb temperature 
45C - through the bottom outlet for further processing or recycling depending on
what system is selected.
Two different flow systems can be used:
 Recirculation with water

 Single-pass with milk or whey
Recirculation with Water

According to above description of the principle, water is recycled by means of a cen-
trifugal pump. The flow is controlled by a valve, and the actual flow can be seen on a
flow meter. The level is kept constant in the separator by a tank with level control
simultaneously ensuring addition of water to add up for the evaporation taking place
in the scrubber. The evaporation takes place due to the air temperature from the dryer,
which is typically 90-95C (for one-stage dryers), being cooled to the wet bulb tem-
perature ( 45C) at the same time evaporating the water. See Fig. 59.
As the temperature of the water continues to be around 45C, bacteria growth must be
expected after some time. Even though the scrubbing liquid is added up due to the
evaporation, the liquid will after 4-6 hours contain bacteria and should be used only as
animal feed.
However, a pasteurization and cooling is recommended before sending the liquid to

the farmers. Evaporation and drying are also carried out in some cases, but the result-
ing powder is still used for animal fodder.
Single-Pass with Milk or Whey

The scrubber can also operate in a single-pass system with milk or whey as the scrub-
bing liquid, see Fig. 59a. This is especially advantageous as the evaporation, which
will always take place, now takes place from the product which is then preconcentrat-
ed a little. The solids increase will naturally also comprise the powder particles picked
up from the air. Cold milk or whey is pumped into the preheating system of the evapo-
rator as discussed earlier. When the milk or whey has reached 45C (wet bulb temper-
ature) in the preheater, it is passed to the wet scrubber, where as mentioned it is
slightly preconcentrated simultaneously with the cleaning of the exhaust air from the
- 109 -
CIP liquid Compressed

air
Reverse Clean air

jet nozzle plenum
CIP liquid Clean

air out
CIP nozzles Hole Plate
Air from
chamber
Filter
bag
Bag filter
Housing
Powder out
Fig. 60 CIP’able Bag Filter Principle
Reverse jet air nozzle, Activated.
- 110 -
dryer. The product is returned to the rest of the preheaters of the evaporator and is fi-
nally pasteurized prior to the evaporation and drying.
The evaporation process in the scrubber will be discussed on page 175.
As temperatures in the scrubber offer favourable conditions for bacteria, a bacteri o-

logical growth must be expected. Single pass with the milk and whey is therefore not
used, but only mentioned as an example of how the overall dryer efficiency can be
improved and approached (see Formula (17) page 129), if the inlet air at the same
time is preheated by condensate from the last effects of the TVR evaporator (see page
171).
CIP-able Bag Filter
Powder recovery from spray dryer exhaust systems for food and dairy products has in
the past typically been done in cyclones, either alone, where environmental issues
have not been in focus, or, where stricter requirements are enforced by the authorities,
cyclones combined with wet scrubbers or textile bag filters.
While requirements to environmental protection, energy consumption, noise level,

production efficiency and product quality are increasing everyday for the food and
dairy industries, powder manufacturers have witnessed a development especially for
powder recovery systems. The SANICIP™ CIP-able bag filter is replacing the cy-
clones and has now reached a point where it is setting the standard for almost all dry-
ers. See Fig. 60.
The SANICIP™ bag filter is of the reverse jet type and made of stainless steel. It con-
sists of a cylindrical bag housing with scrolled air inlet, clean air plenum on top, and a
conical bottom with fluidized powder discharge. During operation the product collect-
ed on the outside of the filter material is removed by a compressed air jet stream
blown into each bag via a special reverse jet air nozzle (patented) positioned above
each bag, see Fig. 60a. A jet is formed which draws air from the clean air plenum into
the bag as well, thereby saving compressed air. This is an efficient and sanitary solu-
tion. The reverse air jet nozzle has furthermore a dual-purpose during CIP as de-
scribed below.
The bags are clean-blown individually or 4 together, resulting in a very even discharge
of powder and using higher air-to-cloth ratios. The frequency and duration of the
cleaning sequence can be adjusted to suit actual running conditions.
The bag filter housing is insulated on the cylindrical part below the hole plate and is
in a fully welded execution. The supply air system for the fluidizing bottom has a
multiple purpose: During production the cone of the bag house is first heated by the
warm air, which subsequently is used for fluidizing the powder in the bottom. This
- 111 -
SANICIP™ bag filter
- 112 -
ensures an even powder flow out of the bag house. During standstill the air is used for
heating of the cone alone. Condensation and risk of mould growth is therefore avoid-
ed.
The filter bags are made from a special 3-layer gradient polyester material. This mate-
rial is fully CIP-able with NaOH and HNO 3 in 1 to 2% solutions at 75C and 60C,
respectively. It is further approved by FDA. It is heat-treated to give a special dust-
releasing surface. Each bag is supported on a stainless steel cage and is easily dis-
mantable. In normal bag filters and old design CIP-able bag filters the clean-blowing
of the bags is performed by using a Coanda nozzle placed on the top of each bag, a so-
lution that works, however, the area around the nozzle is difficult to clean, and it is
designed with a hollow space.
The CIP of the bag filter is divided into the following main items:
1. The internal bag CIP cleans the bag from the inside towards the dirty side (out-
side). Clean water is injected into the inside of the bag through the reversed jet
nozzle and the water is atomized by compressed air. Powder that has penetrated
into the bag material is forced out towards the dirty side by the water spray. No
recirculation of water in this step. This feature is extremely important, as it is
otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to clean out this entrained powder from
the outside only.
2. The clean air plenum CIP cleans the clean air plenum of the bag filter above the
hole plate. No recirculation of water in this step.
3. The hole plate CIP cleans the bottom side of the hole plate and the snap ring ar-
ea of the bag using a specially designed nozzle. This nozzle is positioned on the
bottom part of the hole plate between the bags, and it also cleans the outside of
the filter bags. The nozzle has a dual purpose as well, as it during the drying
process is purged with compressed air to keep the hole plate free of deposits.
Discolouring/denaturation is thereby avoided. The CIP water is recirculated.
4. The shell CIP is performed by means of standard retractable CIP nozzles. The
CIP water is recirculated.
Advantages of the SANICIP™ Filter:
 Low pressure loss across the bag filter and thus the entire exhaust system, i.e. re-
duced energy consumption and noise emission.
 Designed for optimum air-to-cloth ratio and powder load (due to one to four
bag(s) being blown at the time)
 Better utilization of raw materials due to no second grade products
 The scrolled air inlet offers low mechanical impact on the bags. Shaking is avoid-
ed and so is thus wear and tear of the bags.
 Design with 4 or 6m bags to suit specific building requirements
- 113 -
- 114 -
Reduced space requirements for new installations

 Easy replacement of cyclones for retrofits without major building changes
 USDA 3A acceptance
 Short dry-out time, compared with other CIP-able bag filters
Which system to select as an additional powder separator after the cyclones, depends
on how the recovered product - liquid or dry - can be disposed of. In either case the
collected product cannot be regarded as first-class. Therefore, the tendency today is to
avoid the cyclones and install a CIP-able bag filter.
Comparison of Powder Separators

Cyclone Cyclone + Bag Cyclone + SANICIP™
Filter Wet Scrubber
Emission 20-400 mg/Nm3 5-20 mg/Nm3 max. 20 mg/Nm3 5-20 mg/Nm3
Pressure loss 280 mm WG 340 mm WG 340 mm WG 170 mm WG

Exhaust system
(incl. ducts etc.)
Auxiliaries none compressed air liquid circulating compressed air

system
Cleaning suitable for CIP difficult suitable for CIP suitable for CIP
Hygroscopic prod- insensitive sensitive insensitive insensitive *)

ucts
Use of separated first grade first and second not recommend- first grade
product grade ed
Maintenance minimal service of com- minimal service of com-

pressed air sys- pressed air sys-
tem and change tem and change
of bags of bags
Sanitary conditions good relatively good less good good
*) watch out for permeate, if the humidity in the outgoing air is too high
Pneumatic Conveying and Cooling System

A pneumatic conveying system is established when powder has to be conveyed from
one place to another. The conveying medium is air, and the quantity is determined by
the product. Products with high fat content require more air (5 times powder) than
skim milk (4 times powder): It is however not recommended to convey powders with
higher fat contents than 30% as blocking in the ducts and the cyclone may occur.
- 115 -
Fig. 61 Airveyor for precooling of powder
Fig. 62 Pneumatic conveying system
- 116 -
Air of any temperature may be used, and the powder temperature will naturally follow
the air temperature. If hot air is used there will be a drying effect. This will, however,
be minimal, as the residence time is short (air velocities of 20 m/sec.), and the moi s-
ture is bound hard to the proteins.
A pneumatic conveying system is usually established in connection with a one-stage

spray dryer of conventional design. Ambient air is used thus providing a dual ad-
vantage, namely both conveying and cooling of the powder. In order to get the full
benefit of the cooling effect it is recommended that there is a lock between the cham-
ber outlet and the duct, which will prevent warm moist air from entering the convey-
ing system. This is usually done by means of a rotary valve. Pulsations in the powder
flow as a result of deposits falling from the wall should also be avoided. This can be
done using an airveyor with a perforated plate through which cold air is blown. This
will simultaneously have a cooling effect. See Fig. 61.
The conveying air duct will be passed via the outlet of the main cyclones picking up
powder from here. The air/powder stream is passed to a cyclone separating the parti-
cles from the air. At the base of the cyclone the powder should be sifted after which it
is ready to be bagged off. See Fig. 62.
If climatic conditions are so that a sufficiently low powder temperature cannot be ob-
tained due to a high ambient air temperature, or the humidity in the ambient air is so
high that the powder will absorb moisture from the air, cooling and dehumidifying of
the conveying air by using ice-water at 1-2C in a heat exchanger is necessary. The
temperature to which the air should be cooled depends on the product and ambient
conditions, but it is usually around 8C. Water will then condense, and it is necessary
to include a section for removing this water which is usually done by passing the air
over a set of labyrinths. At the outlet the air will be free from water droplets, but the
relative humidity will be 100%. To avoid the risk of further condensation and devel-
opment of water droplets, which will be picked up by the powder thus increasing the
moisture content, the air is heated in a subsequent heater to 15-20C reducing the rela-
tive humidity.
In order to calculate the amount of ice-water needed for the cooling it is necessary to
consult an IX diagram where the enthalpy of air at any condition is given.
The cooling can also be done by a refrigerator with direct expansion in coils in the air
stream.
A pneumatic conveying system is cheap and can handle big quantities of powder, but
it will brake up any tendency of agglomeration resulting in powder with maximum
bulk density. For powders with agglomerates (instant milk powders, see page 231) the
pneumatic conveying system can naturally not be used.
- 117 -
Fig. 63 VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
Fig. 64 Perforated plate (BUBBLE PLATE™)

Patented.
- 118 -
Fluid Bed After-Drying/Cooling

In order to improve the drying economy the drying is divided in two or more steps.
The first step is done in a spray drying chamber transforming the liquid into powder
particles and evaporating the main portion of the water. As it will be discussed later,
see page 123, the evaporation of moisture from a particle will become more difficult
and require more time, as the residual moisture content approaches 0%.
The subsequent drying is done in a fluid bed, see Fig. 63. The fluid bed drying tech-
nology has proved especially suited, as the residence time in the fluid bed is so long
that the moisture from the centre of the particle can reach the surface from where the
evaporation takes place.
In a fluid bed the drying air is introduced to the powder through a special perforated
plate, the BUBBLE PLATE™, see Fig. 64. Special features of the BUBBLE
PLATE™ are:
 The air is directed downwards towards the plate surface.
 The bubble plate has few, but large holes.
 The unique manufacturing method prevents crevices.
 The bubble plate has shown a very good emptying effect.
The fluid bed can be vibrating, see page 133, or stationary, see page 142. The fluid
bed offers at the same time a very efficient and lenient tool for cooling of fat-
containing and agglomerated products.
Instrumentation and Automation

In order to control the drying process and at any time to be able to record the drying
parameters the installation should include instrumentation and control equipment.
This is done using field instruments and a PLC with monitor, which is placed in a
separate control room, partly to keep it dry, but also because the operators here can be
in a place with reduced noise level.
Instrumentation, see Fig. 65, for a modern spray dryer should include all relevant pro-
cessing parameters, incl. inlet drying air temperature for the main chamber and fluid
beds, as well as outlet air temperature. All temperatures are recorded on a printer en a-
bling the operator to see the trend of the temperature development, and also to go
back and find the reason why a powder has been downgraded in the laboratory. An
hour counter for the atomizer or high-pressure pump is also necessary, as it tells when
oil should be changed. A feed pressure gauge should also be included, if the atomiza-
tion is carried out with nozzles. In order to check the pressure in the chamber which is
usually operated under a vacuum of 5-10 mm WG frequency converters on the inlet
and outlet air fans should be provided. These can of course be operated manually, but
- 119 -
Fig. 65 Control room
SCADA-Clients SCADA-Clients
Production network
Printer
Process network
Switch 1 * Field instrumentation
Remote IO-panels
IO-Server 1 IO-Server 2
Switch 2
MCC MCC MCC MCC
PLC PLC PLC PLC
* M
* M
* M
* M
• MILK • EVAPORATION • SPRAY • POWDER HANDLING

RECEPTION DRYING AND PACKING
Fig. 66 IT-Architecture for the control system
- 120 -
in most cases they are automatically controlled. Automatic start/stop of the plant is
therefore possible.
The inlet temperature can be automatically controlled by regulating either the steam
pressure or the amount of oil or gas to the air heater. The outlet temperature should
always be automatically controlled to ensure a powder with a constant residual mois-
ture content. If the atomization takes place by means of a rotary atomizer the regula-
tion of the outlet temperature is done by changing the revolution of the feed pump.
Another system, which, however, is not very often used - and then only for nozzle at-
omization - is with a constant supply of feed to the atomizer and then keep the outlet
temperature constant by changing the inlet temperature.
If the atomization is done by means of nozzles the outlet temperature may be kept
constant by changing the revolution of the high-pressure pump. This will naturally
have an influence on the nozzle pressure which again will have an influence on the
mean particle size and the particle distribution. However, once the right nozzle com-
bination has been found, only marginal changes are seen.
A drying installation, however, is not only the spray dryer. There is also the evapora-
tor. As the raw milk solids can vary from tank to tank and fouling (micro-thin deposits
in the tubes which will alter the K value) may occur after a certain running time, the
evaporating capacity and therefore the amount of concentrate will not be constant. It is
of course possible to counteract this by manual regulation on the evaporator or spray
dryer, but it is also possible to do the regulation automatically. The most common sys-
tem is to delete the feed tanks and let the last stage of the evaporator or a special vac-
uum tank take over this function. Level transmitters are then built into the last effect
calandria in the evaporator. The level in the evaporator is now controlled by the feed
flow and/or steam pressure to the thermo-compressor.
During the last years, the development of PLC's has resulted in equipment for process
control, which is attractive both with regard to price and intelligence. The PLC has
many advantages, also when we are talking about traditional and uncomplicated con-
trols consisting of simple isolated loops trying to maintain a given parameter at the set
point disregarding other parameters, which might well have an influence on the se-
lected set point. See Fig. 66.
This means that the operator's knowledge of the process has less influence on the
plant operation and therefore on the product quality, which can then be closer to the
specifications.
The PLC also offers a perfect tool for start-up or shut-down of the entire plant. This
means that non-productive running time can be avoided. Also sequence control of
valves and pumps during CIP of the plant is controlled by the PLC.
Data-logging is possible by computing mean values of any selected parameter, and

trend curves over for example one hour can be monitored and printed as a hard copy.
- 121 -
Fig. 67 Conventional spray dryer with pneumatic conveying system (SDP)
Fig. 68 Weight, volume and diameter decrease of a droplet during

ideal drying conditions
- 122 -
Milk Powder Technology
Spray drying has been found the most suitable process for removing the last part of
the water, since spray drying can convert milk concentrate into a powder while still
keeping the valuable properties of the milk.
The principle of all spray dryers is to transform the concentrate into many small drop-
lets which are then exposed to a fast current of hot air. Because of the very large sur-
face area of the droplets (1 l of concentrate will be atomized to 1.5 x 10 10 particles of
50µ with a total surface of 120 m2) the water evaporates almost instantaneously and
the droplets are transformed into powder particles.
One-Stage Drying
One-stage drying is defined as the spray drying process where the product is dried to
the final moisture content in the spray drying chamber, see Fig. 67. However, the fun-
damental theory about the droplet formation and the evaporation of the initial mois-
ture is the same in this and the following processes and therefore discussed here.
The initial velocity of the droplets from the rotary atomizer is about 150 m/sec. Most
of the drying takes place while the droplets are decelerated by their friction to the air.
Droplets with a diameter of 100 microns have a deceleration path of less than 1 m,
and for droplets with a 10 micron diameter it is only a few centimetres. The main
temperature drop of the drying air, due to the evaporation of the water from the con-
centrate, takes place during this period. An enormous heat and mass transfer therefore
takes place in the particles during an extremely short period of time, and the product
quality may be seriously harmed, if the factors promoting degradation are not known,
or are disregarded.
During the removal of water from the droplets a considerable reduction in weight,
volume, and diameter of the particle takes place. Under ideal drying conditions the
weight will decrease to about 50%, the volume to about 40%, and the diameter to
about 75% of the created droplet from the atomizer. See Fig. 68.
However, the ideal droplet creation and drying technique have not yet been developed.
There will always be some incorporation of air in the concentrate during pumping
from the evaporator, and especially when the concentrate is pumped into the feed tank
due to splashing. But also during the atomization a lot of air is incorporated into the
concentrate in the rotary atomizer, where the wheel besides atomizing the concentrate
- 123 -
Fig. 69 Wheel with curved vanes for powder Fig. 70 Steam-swept wheel
with high bulk density
Fig. 71 Foaming ability of skim milk concentrate Fig. 72 Temperature development
- 124 -
is acting as a fan sucking in air and whipping it into the concentrate. Specially de-
signed wheels will, however, counteract the incorporation of air in the concentrate. In
the curved vane wheel (the so-called high bulk density wheel), see Fig. 69, the air is
partly separated from the concentrate again due to the centrifugal force, whereas in the
steam-swept wheel, see Fig. 70, the problem is partly overcome by replacing the liq-
uid/air interface with a liquid/steam interface. It was generally believed that the noz-
zles during the atomization incorporated no or very little air into the concentrate.
However, it has been found that some air incorporation takes place during the very
early stage of atomization, both outside and inside the spray cone due to the air fric-
tion prior to the droplet formation. The higher the capacity of the nozzle (kg/h) the
more air will be whipped into the concentrate.
The ability of a concentrate to incorporate air (or its foaming ability) is depending on
the composition, temperature and the solids content. It has been found that concen-
trate with a low solids content has an extensive foaming ability which even increases
with the temperature. Concentrate with a high solids content has considerably lower
foaming ability which is even further reduced by increasing the temperature, see
Fig. 71. Generally the foaming ability is less in whole milk concentrate than in skim
milk concentrate. Determination of air in concentrate is described on page 191.
The amount of air in the droplets (present in form of small air bubbles) is therefore
one of the decisive factors as to how far the shrinkage will continue during the drying.
Another factor even more important is the drying conditions, i.e. the surrounding air
temperature. As mentioned, a lot of heat has to be transferred from the drying air to
the droplets and much water vapour the other way. Therefore, there is a temperature
and concentration gradient in the particle, and the whole process becomes very com-
plex and not fully understood. Droplets of pure water (water activity 100%) will,
when exposed to air at a higher temperature, evaporate keeping wet bulb temperature
until completely evaporated, while solids containing products dried to the extreme
(i.e. with a water activity approaching zero) are heated to the temperature of the sur-
rounding air at the end of the drying, which in a spray dryer means the temperature of
the outgoing air. See Fig. 72.
Not only from the centre to the surface is there a concentration gradient, but also from
one point of the surface to another resulting in different water concentrations and thus
different temperatures between different regions on the surface. The overall gradient
intensity is bigger, the bigger the particle diameter, due to the smaller surface/mass ra-
tio. Thus small particles dry in a more uniform way.
During the drying the solids content naturally increases due to the removal of water -
and so does the viscosity and surface tension. This means that the diffusion coeffi-
cient, i.e. the water-vapour diffusion/time and area, becomes smaller and overheating
occurs due to the slower evaporation rate. In extreme cases the so-called case harden-
ing will take place, which is the formation of a hard crust on the surface through
which the remaining water-vapour or occluded air will diffuse very slowly. If case
hardening occurs, it is usually at a residual moisture content of 10-30% in the particle,
- 125 -
Fig. 73 Typical particle from one-stage drying
Fig. 74 Spray particle. One-stage drying
Fig. 75 Overheated particle. One-stage drying
- 126 -
at which stage the proteins, especially the caseins, are very sensitive to heat and easily
denature resulting in a powder with poor solubility properties. Moreover, the amor-
phous lactose will become hard and almost impenetrable to water vapour, and the par-
ticle temperature increases further as the evaporation rate, i.e. diffusion coefficient,
approaches zero.
As there will be more water vapour and air bubbles in the particle this will now get
superheated, if the surrounding air temperature is high enough resulting in the vapour
and air to expand. The pressure will increase, and the particle will blow up to a com-
pletely round ball with a smooth surface, see Fig. 73. The particle will have a lot of
vacuoles inside, see Fig. 74. If the surrounding air temperature is high enough the par-
ticle may even explode, but even if it does not, the particle will have a very thin crust,
about 1 micron, and it will not survive the mechanical treatment in the cyclones or in
the conveying system and thus leave the dryer with the exhaust air. See Fig. 75.
If there is only a small content of air bubbles in the particle the expansion will, in
spite of the overheating, not be too extensive. The overheating as a result of case
hardening will, however, have a detrimental effect on the caseins resulting in bad sol-
ubility.
If the surrounding temperature, i.e. the outlet temperature, is kept low during the dry-
ing, the particle temperature will be equally low.
The outlet temperature is determined by many factors of which the most important
ones are:
 Moisture content in the final powder

 Temperature and moisture content of the drying air
 Solids content in the concentrate
 Atomization
 Viscosity of the concentrate
Moisture Content in the Final Powder

The first and foremost factor is the moisture content in the final powder. The lower
the residual moisture content wanted, the lower the relative humidity in the outlet air,
and that means higher outlet temperature and with that higher particle temperature.
Temperature and Moisture Content of the Drying Air

As the moisture content is in direct relation to the relative humidity of the outgoing
air, an increase of the inlet air will necessitate a slight increase in the outlet air due to
the higher amount of moisture in the air resulting from the increased evaporation. Al-
so the initial moisture content in the drying air plays a big role, and if that is high the
outlet temperature has to be increased to compensate for the extra moisture.
- 127 -
- 128 -
Solids Content in the Concentrate
An increase in the solids content will require an increase in the outlet temperature, as
the evaporation becomes slower (average diffusion coefficient smaller) and a bigger
temperature difference (driving force) between the particle and surrounding air is nec-
essary.
Atomization
Any attempt to improve the atomization and create a finer spray will result in a lower
outlet temperature, as the specific surface/mass ratio of the particles becomes bigger.
The evaporation will therefore be easier and a smaller driving force is required.
Viscosity of the Concentrate

The atomization is influenced by the viscosity. The viscosity increases with increased
content of proteins, crystallized lactose and overall solids content. Heating the con-
centrate (beware of age-thickening) and increasing the atomizer speed or nozzle pres-
sure can remedy the problem.
The overall drying efficiency is expressed in the following approximated formula:
Ti - To
= (17)
Ti - Ta
where:
Ti = air inlet temperature
To = air outlet temperature
Ta = ambient temperature
It is thus obvious that the only possibility of increasing the efficiency of spray drying
operation is by increasing ambient temperature by preheating (see page 171), f.inst.
using condensate from the evaporator, or by increasing the inlet temperature or de-
creasing the outlet temperature.
The relation  is at the same time a good indication of the dryer performance, as the
outlet temperature is determined by the residual moisture content which has to fulfil
certain standards. A high outlet temperature will indicate that the drying air is not ut i-
lized in an optimal way due to various reasons such as bad atomization, bad air distri-
bution, high viscosity, etc.
The  will in normal spray dryers operated on skim milk (Ti = 200C, To = 95C) be
around 0.56.
The drying technology discussed so far has been related to a plant with pneumatic
conveying and cooling system, where the powder when leaving the base of the cham-
- 129 -
Fig. 76 Micro-photo of skim milk powder from a plant

with pneumatic conveying system
- 130 -
ber is dried to the wanted moisture content. The powder will at this stage be warm and
consist of particles stuck together with very weak bindings in big loose agglomerates
due to the primary agglomeration taking place in the atomizer cloud, where particles
of different diameter will obtain different speed and therefore collide. However, when
passed through the pneumatic conveying system, where the agglomerates are exposed
to mechanical forces, the powder will break up in single particles. This kind of pow-
der, see Fig. 76, can be characterized as follows:
 Single particles
 High bulk density
 Dusty, if it is skim milk powder
 Non-instant
Two-Stage Drying
As discussed previously the particle temperature was given by the surrounding air
temperature (outlet temperature). As the last water is the most difficult to remove by
the conventional drying, the outlet temperature has to be high enough to ensure a driv-
ing force (t or temperature difference between particle and air) capable of removing
the last moisture. That this will very often have a detrimental effect on the particles
has been discussed earlier.
It is therefore not astonishing that a completely different drying technology has been
developed especially to evaporate the last 2-10% moisture from the particles already
formed at that stage.
As the evaporation will go very slowly in this range, due to the diffusion coefficient
being low, the drying equipment or after-dryer should be designed so that the powder
will get a long residence time. It can be done in a pneumatic conveying system using
hot air thus increasing the driving force. However, as a velocity of 20 m/sec. is re-
quired in the duct, it takes a considerable length of duct if it should be efficient. An-
other system consists of the so-called "Hot Chamber" with tangential inlet for pro-
longing the holding time. After the drying is completed, the powder is separated in a
cyclone and passed on to another pneumatic conveying system with cold or dehumidi-
fied air for cooling. The powder is separated in a cyclone and is ready to be bagged
off.
Another system for after-drying is a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, which is a big horizontal

box divided in an upper and a lower section by a perforated plate welded to the side
wall of the box. See Fig. 77. For drying, alternatively cooling, warm and cold air is in-
troduced into the air plenum chamber and is distributed evenly over the whole area of
a special perforated plate, the BUBBLE PLATE™, with the following advantages:
- 131 -
Fig. 77 VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ in sanitary design
Air out
Powder
layer
Plate
Air in
Fig. 77a BUBBLE PLATE™ (patented)
- 132 -
The air is directed downward towards the plate surface, therefore particles will be
kept moving on the plate, which has few, but large holes and can therefore operate
longer time between cleaning. Further, it has demonstrated a very good emptying ef-
fect. See Fig. 77a.
 The manufacturing method prevents crevices. The BUBBLE PLATE™ (patented)

is therefore sanitary, and as such accepted by USDA.
The perforation and amount of air are determined by the necessary air velocity needed
for the fluidizing of the powder, which in turn is determined by the nature of the pow-
der such as the moisture content and thermoplasticity.
The temperature is determined according to the required evaporation duty. The hole
size in the perforated plate is chosen, so that the air velocity will be high enough to
fluidize the powder on the plate. The air velocity should not be so high that the ag-
glomerated powder is destroyed due to attrition. However, it can never be avoided
(and in some cases it is even desirable) that some particles, especially the small ones,
leave the fluid bed with the air. The air is therefore passed through a cyclone or bag
filter, where the particles are separated and returned to the process.
With this new equipment in hand it is possible to evaporate the last few per cent of
moisture from the powder in a gentle way. This means that the spray dryer can be op-
erated in a different way from the one previously described, where the powder left the
chamber with the final moisture content.
The advantage of the two-stage drying can be summarized as follows:
 Higher capacity/kg drying air

 Better economy
 Better product quality such as:
- good solubility
- high bulk density
- low free fat
- low content of occluded air
 Less powder emission
The fluid bed can be designed either as a vibrating plug-flow bed

(VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™) or a static back-mix bed.
Two-Stage Drying with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ (Plug-Flow)
In the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ the whole fluid bed is vibrating. The perforations of the
plate are made so that the drying air is directed with the powder flow. To avoid that
- 133 -
the perforated plate will vibrate with its own frequency, supporting is necessary. See
Fig. 78.
- 134 -
Fig. 78 Spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ for two-stage drying
Fig. 79 Typical particle from two-stage drying
- 135 -
In the spray dryer the outlet temperature is decreased resulting in an increase of the
moisture content and a decrease of the particle temperature. The moist powder enters
by gravity from the drying chamber into the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™.
There is, however, a limit as to how far it is operationally possible to go, as the pow-
der will become sticky with the increased moisture content despite the lower tempera-
ture, and the powder will form lumps and deposits will occur in the chamber.
Usually a reduction in the outlet temperature of 10-15C may be achieved. This re-
sults in a much gentler drying especially during the critical drying stage (30% to 10%
moisture), the shrinkage will continue, see Fig. 79, not interrupted by any case harden-
ing thus reaching conditions close to the optimal drying example. The lower droplet
temperature is achieved partly due to the lower surrounding temperature, but also due
to the higher moisture content in the particles thus being closer to the wet bulb tem-
perature. This has naturally a positive influence on the solubility properties of the fi-
nal powder.
The decrease in the outlet temperature means a correspondingly higher capacity in the
drying chamber due to the increased t. Very often the drying temperature and the sol-
ids content in the feed are increased thus increasing the efficiency of the dryer even
more. This means, however, a necessary simultaneous increase in the outlet tempera-
ture, but the higher moisture content and lower particle temperature protect the parti-
cles, so that overheating and case hardening can be avoided.
Experimental-wise, the drying temperature has reached 250C or even 275C when
drying skim milk, in which case the drying efficiency is as high as 0.75
When the chamber fraction reaches the base of the chamber it has higher moisture
content and lower temperature than obtained from the conventional drying, as de-
scribed previously. From the base of the chamber the powder should drop directly into
the drying section of the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ and be fluidized immediately. Any
hold-up or conveying will cause the warm, moist and thermoplastic particles to stick
together and lumps being hard to break will be formed. This has a direct negative in-
fluence on the drying efficiency in the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ and part of the powder
will leave the equipment with a too high moisture content, detrimental for the keeping
quality of the powder.
Only the chamber fraction enters the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ gravimetrically. The

main cyclone fraction and the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ cyclone (or CIP-able bag filter)
fraction still have to be collected and conveyed to the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™.
As the fines fractions consist of particles of a less mean diameter than particles from
the chamber fractions, they will have a lower moisture content and thus do not require
the same after-drying. Very often they are even dry enough, but despite that they are
usually passed to the last third of the drying section of the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ to
make sure they become dried to the desired moisture content.
- 136 -
Fig. 80 Pressure conveying system from VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ to silo system
Bagging-off line
Fig. 81 Energy consumption/kg evaporation as a function of residual moisture content
- 137 -
When the cyclone fractions are collected, the collection point cannot always be ar-
ranged directly above the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, so that it can be fed directly by
gravity into the drying section. A pressure conveying system is therefore often in-
stalled to handle the powder. A pressure conveying system is very flexible in relation
to where the powder is conveyed, as the conveying line is an ordinary 3 or 4 inch
dairy pipe. The system consists of a low-volume/high-pressure air blower, a blow-
through valve, allowing the air to pass through picking up the powder, and a convey-
ing line, see Fig. 80. The amount of air is small in relation to the powder to be con-
veyed (only 1/5).
During production a small part of this powder becomes airborne again in the
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ and will leave with the air, collected in the cyclone and re-
turned to the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ again. During shut down of the plant it will
therefore take some time before this recycling has stopped, if special arrangements are
not foreseen.
The problem is for example handled by a change-over valve in the conveying pipe to
another pipe passing the powder on to the very end of the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ sys-
tem, which is then emptied in a few minutes.
The powder is finally sifted and bagged off. As the powder may contain some primary
agglomerates, it is recommended to use another pressure conveying system to a silo in
order to obtain the maximum density.
It is a well-known, accepted fact that, when evaporating water from milk, the energy
consumption/kg evaporation increases as the residual moisture approaches zero. See
Fig. 81.
It has already been shown that the efficiency of the spray drying can be influenced by
the inlet and outlet temperatures.
While the steam consumption is 0.10-0.20 kg/kg evaporated water in the evaporator, it
is 2.0-2.5 kg/kg evaporated water in a conventional one-stage dryer, or in other words
20 times as high as in the evaporator. Attempts are therefore always made to increase
the solids content from the evaporator. This means that the evaporator will remove
more water at a low energy consumption. It will of course lead to a slight increase of
the energy consumption/kg evaporated water in the spray dryer, but the total energy
requirement will be less.
The above mentioned steam consumption/kg evaporated water is an average figure, as

the steam consumption at the beginning is very low increasing towards the end of the
drying. A calculation shows that a powder with 3.5% moisture required 1,595 Kcal/kg
powder, while for a powder with 6% moisture it is only 1,250 Kcal/kg powder. In oth-
er words this last evaporation corresponds to about 23 kg steam/kg evaporation.
- 138 -
The table on the next page illustrates the calculation. The first row of figures shows
the conditions when operating the plant under ordinary conditions with pneumatic
cooling and conveying of the powder leaving the drying chamber and cyclones. The
Cone of spray drying tower and attached VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
- 139 -
next row of figures shows the conditions when running the plant as a two-stage drying
unit, in which the powder is dried from 6% moisture to 3.5% moisture in a
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. The third row of figures shows the two-stage drying with
high inlet temperature.
Spray dryer Spray dryer Spray dryer

with with Vibro- operated at
pneumatic Fluidizer™ high temp.
DRYING SYSTEM
conveying with Vibro-
system Fluidizer™
SPRAY DRYER
Inlet air temperature: C 200 200 230
Drying air: kg/h 31,500 31,500 31,500
Skim milk with 8.5% solids: kg/h 12,950 16,150 19,800
Concentrate with 48% solids: kg/h 2,290 2,860 3,510
Evaporation in chamber: kg/h 1,150 1,400 1,720
Powder from chamber:
- 6% moisture: kg/h 1,460 1,790
- 3.5% moisture: kg/h 1,140 - -
Fuel oil consumption: kg/h 175 175 205
Power consumption: kW 120 125 130
Energy consumption
Spray drying total: Mcal 1,818 1,823 2,120
Energy/kg powder in chamber: Kcal 1,595* 1,250* 1,184
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
Drying air: kg/h 3,430 4,290
Inlet air temperature: C 100 100
Evaporation in VF: kg/h 40 45
Powder from VF, 3.5% moisture: kg/h 1,420 1,745
Steam consumption: kg/h 135 167
Power consumption: kW 20 22
Energy cons., total in VF: Mcal 95 115
DRYING TOTAL
Energy consumption total: Mcal 1,818 1,918 2,235
Energy/kg powder total: Kcal 1,595 1,350 1,280
Energy relation: % 100 85 80
Dryer efficiency: 0.54 0.62 0.66
- 140 -
Fig. 82 Perforated plate for directional air flow (BUBBLE PLATE ™)
COMPACT DRYER™ Multi-stage Spray Dryer (MSD™)
- 141 -
By using the figures marked with *) we obtain:
1,595 - 1,250 = 345 Kcal/kg powder
The evaporation per kg powder is: 0.025 kg (6% - 3.5% = 2.5%)
The energy consumption per kg evaporation is then:
345
= 13.800 Kcal/kg
0.025
corresponding to 23 kg steam/kg evaporated water.
In the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ the steam consumption is in average about 4 kg

steam/kg evaporation, all naturally depending on the amount of air and temperature
that can be used. Even if the steam consumption is about twice as high in the
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ as in the spray dryer, it is still (due to the special design al-
lowing a residence time as long as 8-10 min. compared to 20-25 sec. in the spray dry-
er) far below the energy requirement, if the same water should have been evaporated
in the spray dryer. At the same time it should be remembered that the plant will get
higher capacity, produce a better product, the powder emission will be lower, and on
top of that the plant will be very flexible.
Two-Stage Drying with Static Fluid Bed (Back-Mix)
In the attempt to improve the drying efficiency expressed in formula (17), page 129,
the air outlet temperature To was in the two-stage drying (page 131) reduced to the
limit where the powder with moisture contents of 5-7% became sticky and started to
adhere to the chamber walls.
However, further improvements have been obtained by the introduction of a static flu-
id bed integrated in the conical part of the drying chamber. The secondary drying air is
introduced into a plenum chamber below the perforated plate, through which the dry-
ing air is distributed. This type of dryer can be operated, so that the primary particles
reach a moisture as high as 8-12%, corresponding to an air outlet temperature of 65-
70C. This extreme utilization of the drying air means that for a given capacity the
size of the plant can be reduced considerably.
Milk powders have always been regarded as difficult to fluidize. However, a specially
designed and patented perforated plate, see Fig. 82 and page 131, provides an
air/powder rotation in the same direction as that of the primary drying air. By means
of this plate, and the correct combination of bed height and fluidization velocity, any
milk-based product can now be fluidized in a static fluid bed.
- 142 -
Fig. 83 COMPACT DRYER™ with pneumatic conveying system, (CDP)
Fig. 84 COMPACT DRYER™ with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™

as agglomerator/instantizer, (CDI)
- 143 -
The static fluid bed is available in three configurations:
 Ring-formed fluid bed (COMPACT DRYER™)

 Circular fluid bed (MSD™ dryers)
 A combination of the above two (IFD™ dryers)
Ring-Formed Fluid Bed (COMPACT DRYER™)

The ring-formed back-mix bed is placed at the bottom of a conventional chamber
cone round the exhaust duct placed in the centre. Thus there are no parts in the cone
obstructing the air flow, and this together with the spouts from the fluidized powder
layer keeps the chamber cone free from deposits even when handling sticky powders
with high moisture contents. The cylindrical part of the chamber is kept clean by a
wall-sweep system, where a small amount of air is introduced at high velocity tangen-
tially into the cylindrical part of the chamber through specially designed air nozzles
pointing in the same direction as the rotation of the primary drying air.
Due to the combined air/powder rotation and the resulting cyclone effect in the cham-
ber, only a small amount of powder will be entrained in the exhaust air. The cy-
clone/CIP bag filter fraction is therefore low in this type of dryer, and so is the powder
emission.
The powder is discharged continuously from the static fluid bed by overflowing an ad-
justable powder weir, thus maintaining a certain fluidized powder level.
Due to the low air outlet temperature, the drying economy is greatly improved com-
pared with the conventional two-stage drying as shown in the table on the following
page.
When the powder leaves the drying chamber it may be cooled in a pneumatic convey-
ing system as described on page 115. See Fig. 83. The resulting powder will consist of
single particles and have same or even better powder properties than those mentioned
for two-stage drying on page 131.
For fat-containing products the cooling should be done in a vibrating fluid bed which
is also used when agglomerated powders are produced. In this case the cyclone frac-
tion is returned to the atomizer device for agglomeration. See Fig. 84.
- 144 -
Fluidized static back-mix bed at base of the drying chamber
- 145 -
Spray dryer Spray dryer Spray dryer

with VF for with ring- with circu-
two-stage formed static lar static
DRYING SYSTEM
drying fluid bed fluid bed
(COMPACT (MSD™)
DRYER™)
SPRAY DRYER
Drying air: kg/h 31,500 31,500 31,500
Skim milk with 8.5% solids: kg/h 19,800 24,000 31,300
Concentrate with 48% solids: kg/h 3,510 4,250 5,540
Evaporation in chamber: kg/h 1,720 2,010 2,620
Powder from chamber:
- 6% moisture: kg/h 1,790 - -
- 9% moisture: kg/h - 2,240 2,920
Fuel oil consumption: kg/h 205 205 230
Energy consumption
Spray drying total: Mcal 2,120 2,130 2,380
Energy/kg powder in chamber: Kcal 1,184 950 820
FLUID BED VF SFB SFB
Drying air: kg/h 4,290 6,750 11,500
Evaporation in VF/SFB: kg/h 45 125 165
Powder from fluid bed, kg/h 1,745 2,115 2,755
3.5% moisture:
Steam consumption: kg/h 167 290 400
Energy cons., total in fluid bed: Mcal 115 195 265
DRYING TOTAL
Energy consumption total: Mcal 2,235 2,325 2,645
Energy/kg powder total: Kcal 1,280 1,038 960
Energy relation (see p. 61): % 80 65 60
Dryer efficiency: 0.66 0.75 0.80
- 146 -
Fig. 85 Multi-stage spray dryer (MSD™)
- 147 -
Circular Fluid Bed (MSD™ Dryers)
In order to improve the dryer efficiency even further without deposit problems a com-
pletely new spray dryer concept - named Multi-Stage Dryer MSD™ - has been de-
signed.
The dryer operates with three drying stages, each adapted to the moisture content pre-
vailing during the drying process. In the preliminary drying stage the concentrate is
atomized by co-current nozzles placed in the hot drying air duct. The air enters the
dryer vertically through the air disperser at high velocity, ensuring optimal mixing of
the atomized droplets with the drying air. As discussed earlier the evaporation at this
stage takes place instantaneously and during the passage vertically down through the
specially designed drying chamber. The particles reach a moisture content of 6-15%
all depending upon the type of product. At such high moisture content the powder will
exhibit a high thermoplasticity and become very sticky. The high velocity air inlet is
creating a venturi effect, the vacuum of which will suck surrounding air - with en-
trained fines particles - into the wet atomizer cloud. This will result in a "spontaneous
secondary agglomeration", see page 154. The fluid bed is supplied with air at a suffi-
cient velocity and temperature for the second stage drying. The drying air from the
preliminary drying stage and the back-mix bed leaves the chamber from the top pass-
ing through a primary cyclone. The powder from this cyclone is led back to the back-
mix bed and the air to a secondary cyclone for final separation.
When the powder has reached a certain moisture content it is discharged via a rotary
valve into a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ for the final drying and subsequent cooling. The
drying/cooling air from the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ is passed through a cyclone sepa-
rating the powder contained in the air. The fine powder is returned back to the atom i-
zation device, the chamber cone (static bed), or the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. On to-
day's modern dryers the cyclone(s) are replaced by a CIP-able bag filter.
The powder exhibits a coarse powder structure originating from the "spontaneous sec-
ondary agglomeration" in the atomizer cloud, where there is a continuous supply of
dry fines particles that will stick to the semi-dry particles thus creating the agglomera-
tion. But the agglomeration is further enhanced, when the spray gets in contact with
the fluidized powder in the static fluid bed. See Fig. 85.
It has been possible to operate this plant at a very high primary drying air temperature
(220-275C) and an extremely short residence time, still maintaining a good solubility
of the powder. The physical dimensions of this type of plant are small, and thus the
requirements to the size of the building are limited. This together with the improved
drying economy (10-15% less compared to conventional two-stage drying), due to the
high primary drying air temperature, makes it a very attractive solution especially for
agglomerated products.
- 148 -
Feed
Air Exhaust
Air Supply
Final Powder
Fig. 85a Integrated Filter Dryer (IFD™)
Fig. 85b Reverse jet air nozzle Integrated fluid bed
- 149 -
Spray Drying Plant with Integrated Filters and Fluid Beds (IFD™)
The Integrated Filter Dryer design (patented), see Fig. 85a, is based on proven spray
dryer unit operations, such as:
 Feed system with concentrate preheating, filtration, homogenization, and high-

pressure pumps. All equipment as used in conventional spray dryers.
 Atomization using either pressure nozzles or rotary atomization. Pressure nozzles

are used mainly for fat containing products and products with high protein content,
and rotary atomization for all kind of products in general and concentrates with
crystals in particular.
 Drying air filtration, heating, and distribution using an air disperser suitable for ro-
tating or vertical air streams.
 Drying chamber designed to ensure hygienic operation conditions and to maintain

lowest possible heat loss by means of e.g. dismountable insulation panels featuring
air-filled sandwich panels, see page 75.
 Integrated fluid bed designed as a combined back-mix bed for the drying and plug-
flow bed for the cooling. The fluid bed is a fully welded construction with no hol-
low spaces. Between the back-mix bed and the surrounding plug-flow bed there is
an air gap to avoid heat transmission. The new patented GEA Niro
BUBBLE PLATE™ is used. See page 119.
The dryer exhaust air system is new and though the idea is revolutionary, it is still
based on the same principles as applied in GEA Niro's SANICIP™ CIP-able Bag Fil-
ter. The fines collection system operates with particulate filters integrated in the drying
chamber. The filter bags are supported on stainless steel cages mounted in the ceiling
around the circumference of the drying chamber. These filter elements operate with blow-
back air cleaning systems similar to those used in the SANICIP™. See page 111.
The bags are purged one by one, or four by four, by compressed air blown into the bag
using the reverse jet air nozzles, see Fig. 85b. This gives a regular and frequent re-
lease of powder into the integrated fluid bed.
The selection of filter material follows procedures already known from the
SANICIP™ bag filter and with the same air-to-cloth ratio.
The reverse air jet nozzle has a dual function: During operation it is used for purging, and
during CIP it is used for the wet cleaning of the bags from the inside towards the dirty out-
side. Clean water is injected through the reverse air jet nozzle and atomized by com-
pressed air into the inside of the bag and pressed out on the dirty side. This patented fea-
ture is extremely important, as it is otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to extract this en-
trained powder from the outside only.
- 150 -
IFD™ chamber with special insulation panels
- 151 -
To clean the underside of the chamber ceiling close to the bags, a specially designed noz-
zle is used, also with a dual-function: During the drying operation the nozzle is purged
with air to keep the area free of deposits and during cleaning it is used as a normal CIP
nozzle. The clean air plenum is cleaned using a standard CIP nozzle.
Advantages of the IFD™ Plant:
Product:
 Higher yield of first-grade powder. In traditional dryers, with cyclones and bag fil-
ters, the bag filter fraction is considered a second-grade product accounting for
approximately 1% of the production.
 Less mechanical handling of products in ducts, cyclones and bag filter and no ex-
ternal recycling of fines is necessary, since the air flow pattern inside the dryer en-
sures an optimal primary and secondary agglomeration
 Improved product quality, as the IFD™ plant can operate at low exhaust air tem-
perature compared to a conventional spray dryer. This possibility means you can
obtain a higher drying capacity per kg of drying air.
Safety:
 Simpler safety protection installations, as the drying process takes place in one
vessel only.
 Fewer components to protect.
 Lower maintenance costs
Projecting:
 Simpler plant layout
 Reduced building size
 Simpler supporting structure
Environmental aspects:
 Reduced possibility of powder leakage into working area
 Easier cleaning operations as surface area in contact with the product is reduced
 Less effluent discharge during CIP
 Less powder emission, down to 10-20 mg/Nm3
 Reduced energy consumption, saving up to 15% of the power consumption
 Reduced noise level, due to reduced pressure drop over the exhaust air system
- 152 -
TYPE DEFINITION EXAMPLES
Spontaneous Random, unprovoked collision All atomization devices

primary of primary spray particles
Forced Intended collision between pri- Collision of sprays from

primary mary spray particles from dif- different nozzles
ferent atomization devices
Spontaneous Random, unprovoked collision Multi-Stage or Integrat-

secondary of primary spray particles and ed Filter Dryers
fines
Forced secondary Intended collision between pri- Normal type when Fines
mary spray particles and fines Return is applied
returned to the atomization zone
Fig. 86 Definition of different agglomeration processes

Concentrate
Concentrate
Fig. 86a Spontaneous primary agglomeration Fig. 86b Forced Forced

primary agglomeration
Spontaneous
Primary
Primary Agglomeration
Agglomeration Fines
Concentrate
Concentrate
Drying Air
Air Exhaust
Fines
Spontaneous Forced
Fig. 86c Spontaneous secondary agglomeration Fig. 86d
Secondary Forced secondary
Secondary
agglomeration
Agglomeration Agglomeration
- 153 -
Agglomeration
Agglomeration means getting smaller particles to adhere to each other to form a pow-
der consisting of bigger conglomerates/agglomerates, which are essential for an easy
reconstitution in water.
Spray Drying Agglomeration
During the spray drying process the aim is to produce particles with a big sur-
face/mass ratio, i.e. small particles. The reconstitution in water of a powder consisting
of small particles is however difficult and requires intensive mixing in order to dis-
perse the powder, before it is totally dissolved. Bigger particles exhibit a better di s-
persion, but the solubility is negatively affected during the drying operation, as dis-
cussed on page 123 forward.
By agglomeration both a good dispersion and a complete solution are obtained.
In spray drying there are two ways of agglomeration: the spontaneous and the forced,
both in a primary and secondary form, see Fig. 86:
The spontaneous primary agglomeration

is a result of a random unprovoked collision of particles in a single atomizer cloud
due to particles of different diameter having different deceleration paths. It takes place
in both nozzle and rotary atomizers. See Fig. 86a.
The forced primary agglomeration

is a controllable means for production of an agglomerated product with certain proper-
ties, by for example collision of particles from two or more atomization clouds, typi-
cally in a multi-nozzle unit, where the sprays from the individual nozzles are forced
into each other. See Fig. 86b.
The spontaneous secondary agglomeration

is a result of a venturi effect at the drying air inlet to the chamber, whereby dry single
particles are sucked into the wet atomizer cloud. Moist particles colliding with air-
borne dry particles contained in the exhaust air on its counter-current way out of the
MSD™/IFD™ dryer. See Fig. 86c.
The forced secondary agglomeration

is a controllable means for agglomeration by returning fines to the atomizer cloud, via
the fines return. The spontaneous agglomeration, which will always exist, is enforced
by the agglomeration applied by returning the fines to the atomizer cloud. By defini-
- 154 -
Fig. 87 Fines return rotary atomizer “old type”
Fig. 88 Forced secondary fines return for rotary atomizer FRAD
Fig. 89 Forced secondary fines return for nozzle atomizer
- 155 -
tion fines are the cyclone or bag filter fractions and consist of the smallest particles,
which are returned to the process. The small dry particles are introduced into the dryer
near the atomizing device, where they will meet and collide with atomized wet drop-
lets thus forming agglomerates consisting of many particles stuck together having a
size of 100-500 microns, depending on the parameters selected. See Fig. 86d.
Due to the special air flow pattern in an MSD™/IFD™ plant a considerable sponta-
neous, secondary agglomeration takes place. For production of high quality instant
whole or skim milk powder this spontaneous agglomeration suffices, and the fines are
just returned to the integrated fluid bed, from where they will get airborne again and
reach the atomizing zone again. However, the agglomeration may be further enhanced
by forced, primary agglomeration (collision of sprays overlapping each other from
different nozzles in a multi-nozzle atomization unit) and/or by returning the fines to
the atomization zone (forced, secondary agglomeration). Further flexibility can be
gained by designing the atomization unit in a way that allows the distance between the
single nozzles or between the nozzles and the fines return tube to be altered.
Depending on the atomization device the fines return is designed in different ways:
For Rotary Atomization
The aim is to bring the fines as close as possible to the atomizer wheel. This can
be done from below, see Fig. 87, via a pressure conveying system using a 3-4"
dosing pipe with a fines distributor at the end inside the drying chamber. How-
ever, deposits are easily formed on this pipe, if the air disperser is not adjusted
to avoid it. This adjustment is, however, not necessarily optimal from the drying
point of view.
In modern dryers fines are therefore introduced from above in through the air
disperser (FRAD System) via 4 fines pipes situated just above the atomizer
cloud. Deflector plates at the end of each fines pipe ensure a correct introduction
and distribution of the fines. See Fig. 88.
For Nozzle Atomization
The fines return is an integral part of the nozzle unit with the fines duct in the
centre surrounded by nozzles at the periphery. The fines are introduced tangen-
tially into the fines distribution duct or through a center pipe, see Fig. 89. The
nozzles can be welded to the nozzle rod at a certain angle, so that by turning the
nozzle rod around its axis the collision point can be altered.
Separation
is the process separating the part of fines which is entrained in the main drying air
leaving the drying chamber. The efficiency of separation is determined by the air flow
pattern and air velocities in the drying chamber and is therefore closely related to the
- 156 -
Feed
Feed to
atomization
MSD
- 157 -
Powder
outlet
Fig. 90 Complete plant for production of agglomerated products (MSD™)

chamber design and can only be marginally affected at normal running conditions,
f.inst. by air disperser adjustments and variations in drying air rates.
The agglomerated powder leaves the chamber at the base or from the integrated fluid
bed and enters the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. During the passage down the wall of the
chamber cone some stabilization of the already induced agglomeration takes place. In
the static fluid bed and/or the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ the powder is met by a warm
airstream evaporating the excess moisture content, as was the case in the two-stage
drying process.
Attrition
is defined as the partial break down of agglomerates in fluid beds or powder convey-
ing systems resulting in creation of either fines and smaller agglomerates (abrasion) or
of a number of smaller sized particles (fragmentation). This often overlooked phe-
nomenon is the result of mechanical motion between the agglomerate and another
body which may be the walls of the fluid bed or another particle. The most likely
cause of attrition in fluid beds is particle/particle interaction, as interparticle impact
velocities can be very high, caused by high air jet velocities out of the holes in the per-
forated plate that forms the bottom of the fluid bed. Factors affecting the extent of at-
trition is the jet velocity, determined by the pressure difference across the perforated
plate, the fluidization velocity and the actual design of the perforated plate.
Classification
is defined as the separation of fines in fluid beds. The efficiency of classification is
mainly determined by the fluidization air velocity, but also fluid bed design features
are of importance in securing that separated fines are kept airborne and entrained in
the exhaust fluid bed air.
After the final drying the powder enters the cooling section where the powder is
cooled by means of air at ambient temperature followed by cooled, dehumidified air.
The powder is finally passed over a sifter where any oversize particles are removed. It
is also possible to install a sifter with two nets thus removing any remaining parti-
cles/agglomerates of small diameter. Together with the fines, this fraction may be re-
turned to the atomizing device thus producing a powder with a well defined agglom-
erate size distribution. The fines removal in the fluid beds is, however, regarded as
sufficient from a product point of view, and plants with above mentioned sifter are
only used when particular product specifications have to be met. Fig. 90 shows a plant
set-up featuring evaporator and spray dryer.
Agglomerate structure and powder properties

Depending on the design and adjustment of the fines return system - particularly the
location of the introduction of the fines in relation to the atomization device - differ-
ent agglomerate structures result, which influences certain powder properties, such as
bulk density, mechanical stability, dispersibility and slowly dispersible particles.
- 158 -
AGGLOMERATE STRUCTURE:
Onion  Raspberry  Compact grape  Loose grape
PARTICLE MOISTURE CONTENT AT COLLISION:
High Low
MECHANICAL STABILITY:
High Low
BULK DENSITY (no attrition):
High Low
BULK DENSITY (after attrition):
High Low High
SLOWLY DISPERSIBLE PARTICLES:
Many Few
DISPERSIBILITY (after attrition):
Poor Good Poor
Fig. 90a Agglomerate structure / Powder properties relationship
Fig. 90b Onion-structured agglomerate
Fig. 90c Compact grape structured agglomerate
- 159 -
The relation between agglomerate structure and certain powder properties is illustrat-
ed in Fig. 90a.
If the fines are introduced close to the atomizing devise the moisture content of the
primary spray particles is high and thereby their plasticity and stickiness, and the fines
particles may penetrate primary particles or be completely covered by concentrate
(Fig. 90b). Such agglomerates have been termed 'onion'-structured. When collision
takes place at a progressively longer distance, away from the atomizing device, less
compact agglomerate structures are obtained. Such structures have been termed 'rasp-
berry'- and 'grape'-structures in decreasing order of compactness.
'Onion'-structured agglomerates are characterized by a high mechanical stability and a

high bulk density, but they will often appear as slowly dispersible particles after re-
constitution. They may also be collected during the different dispersibility tests in use
and jeopardize the general quality evaluation of the product.
With progressively looser agglomerate structures the bulk density and mechanical sta-
bility decrease gradually, and the overall instant properties improve. However, if a
'loose grape'-structure is eventually obtained, the mechanical stability may be so low
that the powder becomes very susceptible to attrition resulting in deteriorated instant
properties. A 'compact grape'-structure (Fig. 90c) is regarded as the ideal compromise
where the powder has simultaneously good instant properties and sufficient mechani-
cal strength to enable necessary transport and packaging.
The agglomeration is improved by:
 High solids content in the concentrate

 Bigger quantity of fines returned to the atomizing device
 Fines introduction closer to the atomizing device
 Shorter distance from nozzle to fluidized layer in a static fluid bed
 Higher moisture content from the primary drying stage
 Bigger primary particles
 Lower pasteurization temperature of the milk prior to the evaporation
When leaving the sifter the powder should not be exposed to strong mechanical con-
veying, neither by means of air nor by fast moving mechanical screws. However, to-
day's lenient vacuum-low speed air systems are used without too much damage to the
agglomerates. The best thing, however, is to install the plant so high that filling into
bags or tote-bins is possible by gravity.
Rewet Agglomeration
Since many powders may become instant by the mere agglomeration, many processes
have been developed during the past years to agglomerate ordinary powders consisting
- 160 -
Fig. 91 The Peebles Rewet Instantizer
Fig. 92 Rewet agglomeration plant (Nestlé)
- 161 -
of single spray particles usually produced in plants with pneumatic conveying system,
as described on page 115 and 140.
The historic development started with the pioneering research of Mr. David D. Pee-
bles in the beginning of the fifties, and instantized non-fat dry milk was marketed
from 1954. Soon it replaced the regular spray dried products on the retail market. Pee-
bles' instantizer is shown in Fig. 91.
Another example of a rewet agglomeration plant is shown in Fig. 92, which illustrates
the principle of a method developed by Nestlé for agglomerating milk powders, choc-
olate-flavoured beverages and soups. When agglomerating skim milk powders the
tank (1) would contain a 10% solution of skim milk solids in water cooled to about
6C. The liquid is sprayed at a pressure of 20 bar by means of the pump (2) and noz-
zle (3), which is designed to give a flat jet with a high velocity of up to 8 m/sec. Skim
milk powder, which is fed by means of a vibrator/screw conveyor (4), is dispersed
over the jet where the single powder particles become rewetted to a moisture suffi-
ciently high (10-15%) to make them sticky on the surface, so that any collision be-
tween particles will result in an agglomeration in the chamber (5). The powder is fi-
nally dried at 90C to 3% moisture (6) and bagged off.
The main features of the rewet agglomeration process are:
 Wetting of the surface of the particles

 Agglomeration
 Redrying
 Cooling
 Sizing
Wetting
Wetting of the surface of the particles is done with humid air, steam, atomized water
either pure or containing milk solids, sugar or other soluble components. The water
may further contain additives such as vitamins (water soluble), minerals, colour and
surface-active agents. The atomization of the moistening agent can be carried out by
means of nozzles or a rotary atomizer. If a rotary atomizer with two feed pipes is used,
it is possible to use a combination of steam and water or use two moistening agents,
which cannot be mixed for various reasons.
If the product is insoluble, an adhesive can be dissolved in the moistening agent.

When doing so products otherwise impossible to agglomerate can be agglomerated
with a good result.
Agglomeration
Agglomeration, whereby the moist sticky particles collide due to the turbulence and
adhere to each other forming agglomerates, is essential for the rewet process.
- 162 -
Fig. 93 Feed system for a rewet plant (wetting by means of

warm water atomized by an atomizer)
- 163 -
As powders with different compositions do not behave in the same way during the
rewetting and agglomeration process, different equipment is needed to obtain an op-
timal agglomeration.
In principle there are two ways of performing the agglomeration:
 Droplet agglomeration
 Surface agglomeration
Droplet Agglomeration
In the droplet agglomeration process the powder particles are wetted with drop-
lets of liquid atomized by means of a nozzle or a rotary atomizer while suspend-
ed in air, as described in Fig. 93. The powder may either be introduced around
the rotary atomizer or the nozzle by means of gravity or pressure air conveying,
or from below by means of pressure conveying.
The actual agglomeration takes place by collision of the single particles wetted
and sticky on the surface, and when they reach the agglomeration chamber wall
they will roll down whereby the compactness of the agglomerates is obtained.
Droplet agglomeration can also be performed by spraying the wetting agent

through a number of nozzles positioned right above the fluidized powder layer
in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. To obtain stable agglomerates the powder should
contain sufficient binding material, like carbohydrates.
Some powders (containing a high content of fat and sugar) become so sticky
when wetted, that heavy deposits in the conical part of the agglomeration cham-
ber develop. A mechanically revolving scraper or similar is therefore necessary
in order to get the powder out of the chamber. Another and technically better so-
lution is to let the conical part of the agglomeration chamber rotate slowly and
have a stationary scraping device such as a knife scraping off the powder. The
rotating cone is mainly used when the powder contains cereals and starch, such
as baby foods.
The droplet agglomeration process is especially used for powders containing fat
such as whole milk powder and powders with a high content of sugar such as
cocoa-milk-sugar mixtures. If cold-water instant whole milk powder is pro-
duced, a lecithin dosing equipment is installed between two
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ (see page 237). However, it should be mentioned that the
final product quality will never be as good as that produced on a drying plant
equipped with fines return, fluid beds and lecithin dosing equipment.
Surface Agglomeration
In the surface agglomeration either steam or warm moist air with a high relative
humidity is used as the moistening agent. The surface of the individual dry par-
- 164 -
Fig. 94 Feed system for a rewet plant. Wetting by means of warm moist air
- 165 -
ticles is wetted due to condensation of the water vapour on the colder particles,
whereby the stickiness required for the agglomeration is created. The subsequent
agglomeration will take place, if the particles are exposed to sufficient mechani-
cal impact. The impact can for example be accomplished in a vortex tube into
which the moistening medium is introduced tangentially and the powder to be
agglomerated along the centre axis. It is very important that the humid air/steam
used for the rewetting does not contain any droplets of water, as that, in combi-
nation with the intensive mechanical impact, will result in overwetted agglom-
erates being too compact for a quick rate of rehydration.
The warm humid air is usually made by spraying steam into warm air at a given
temperature to obtain a relative humidity of 100%. Any water droplets are re-
moved in a demister, after which the air is heated further to give the desired rel-
ative humidity. By changing the air temperature prior to the steam injection and
the subsequent air temperature, it is possible to obtain air with a given tempera-
ture and relative humidity. See Fig. 94.
The surface agglomeration is mainly used for skim milk powder when large ag-
glomerates are aimed at. The final product properties depend to a great extent on
the raw material used for the rewetting, and below is shown a specification for a
recommendable basis powder:
Bulk density, tapped 1250x: 0.80 g/cm3

WPNI: 2-3 mg/g powder *)
Insolubility index: < 0.1 ml
Particle density: 1.35 g/cm3
Mean particle size: approx. 50 m
Amount above 100 m: max. 25%
*) corresponding to a pasteurization temperature of
 90C prior to evaporation.
The surface agglomeration can also be used for whole milk powder, but the ag-
glomerates get too compact for obtaining a powder with good rehydrating prop-
erties.
Redrying
As the basis powder used for agglomeration is remoistened to obtain the desired sur-
face characteristic for an optimal stickiness, this additional moisture has to be evap o-
rated again in order to reach the specified moisture content.
The agglomerates may break down again, if they are exposed to extensive mechanical
handling, such as in a pneumatic conveying system. It is therefore necessary to per-
form the drying in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ as mentioned on page 119. However, as
the rewetted powder is to be compared to a layer of wet snow when entering the
- 166 -
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™,
- 167 -
Fig. 95 GEA Niro multi-purpose REWET AGGLOMETATOR™
- 168 -
a relatively high air velocity is required to fluidize the powder. Otherwise, lumps will
be formed, and the drying efficiency of the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ will decrease.
Cooling
Like the redrying the cooling is performed best in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™.
Sizing
Usually, there is a well defined requirement to the agglomerate size distribution of the
final powder. It is therefore necessary to sift the powder. This is done in a sieve with
two different net sizes placed above each other. Thus it is possible to remove any ag-
glomerates/lumps considered to be too big in the final product. This oversize fraction
may be milled and returned to the process. Powder passing through the upper net may
be further fractionated on the lower net into a main fraction and a fines fraction con-
sisting of single particles and agglomerates being too small. This fines fraction is to-
gether with the cyclone fraction from the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ recycled back to the
process.
The actual powder feeding system consists of a silo and a screw conveyor with varia-
ble speed. The powder is by means of a rotary blow-through valve fed into a high-
pressure air line conveying the powder to the agglomerating module.
It is usually a requirement to most rewet installations that they are product flexible.
Therefore, both droplet and surface agglomeration methods are often installed in the
same plant. The rotating cone may also easily be incorporated in the plant thus giving
the possibility of agglomerating any milk based product. Lecithination may naturally
also be applied to this process, if cold water fat-containing products are aimed at. In
Fig. 95 a flow sheet of a rewet plant GEA Niro design is shown, with the possibility
of all above mentioned agglomeration systems.
- 169 -
- 170 -
Fig. 96 Preheating by means of condensate
Heat Economy of a Milk Powder

Production Line
Having discussed the main factors influencing the heat economy of the individual
equipment, we can now look at the complex production line, where a considerable
amount of heat is disposed of into the environment in form of warm condensate from
the evaporator and warm air from the spray dryer. There are several possibilities of
utilizing this energy:
 Preheating
 Heat recuperation
 Other means of saving energy
Preheating
Preheating the Drying Air with Condensate
From an evaporator with TVR recompression a substantial amount of condensate is

discharged with a temperature of 50-70C depending upon from which stage of the
evaporator it originates.
A simple method is to utilize this energy for preheating the drying air. The condensate
from the first effect of the evaporator with temperature of about 70C is normally re-
turned to the steam boiler, where it is used as feed water. This is advantageous be-
cause it is warm and soft. But the condensate from the last effects can be used. The
temperature is typically 56C, see Fig. 96.
From a four-effect evaporator operating in conjunction with a two-stage spray dryer at

a drying temperature of 230C, as described on page 140, about 12,000 kg/h conden-
sate at 56C can be obtained.
The drying air is preheated to 47C reducing the fuel oil consumption to 170 kg/h,
however, a bigger condensate pump and supply fan are needed due to the bigger pres-
sure drop across the system. Below mentioned figures illustrate the total net saving:
Ambient air preheated from 10C to 47C

Condensate cooled from 56C to 32C:
- 171 -
- 172 -
Without Preheater:
Fuel consumption: 205 kg/h
Steam consumption: 167 kg/h
Electric energy consumption: 152 kW
corresponding to 1,280 Kcal/kg powder
With Preheater:
Steam consumption: 167 kg/h
or a net saving of 15%.
Another advantage is that the condensate is cooled to 32C and can thus be led direct
into a bacteriological waste water cleaning plant, where too high temperatures are not
allowed.
If we compare with the saving in a one-stage dryer it will amount to about 32%.
In MVR evaporators with preheating/heat treatment of the milk from 5C to 72C, the
applied energy through the compressor is just enough for the evaporation and a dis-
charge temperature of the concentrate at 50C and the condensate at 10C. Only if a
heat treatment higher than 72C - by using additional steam - is wanted, the tempera-
ture of the condensate will be high enough, so that it can be used for preheating the
drying air.
Preheating the Drying Air with Vapour from the Evaporator
The vapour from the last effect of the evaporator (temp. 45-50C) is usually passed
through a tubular heat exchanger, where the vapour is cooled by means of the cold in-
coming product, which is reheated. The precooled vapour is passed on to a condenser,
where it is condensed using cooling water either from a cooling tower or a natural wa-
ter reservoir.
It is an obvious idea to utilize the drying air instead of cooling water in a heat ex-
changer for condensing the vapour simultaneously preheating the drying air.
In the four-effect evaporator operating in conjunction with the two-stage spray dryer
at a drying temperature of 230C, as described on page 146, there is approximately
800 kg/h vapour with a temperature of about 47C available. However, by means of
31,500 kg/h air at 10C it is only possible to condense 400 kg/h. Therefore, an addi-
tional condenser, operated with water, is necessary. Another inconvenience of this
system is that the additional condenser should have sufficient capacity to cope with
the extra duty in case the ambient temperature increases. Further, during start-up of
- 173 -
Fig. 97 Humidity chart for air-water (set of adiabatic curves

based on water of 45°C)
- 174 -
the evaporator it is necessary to have at least the fans of the spray dryer operating to
get stable conditions in the evaporator. Therefore, this way of saving energy in the
spray dryer is not used in practice, but only included, as there is a patent describing it
as a possibility.
Heat Recuperation
Wet Scrubber
The heat contained in the exhaust air can be recovered in different ways. If the wet
scrubber described on page 107, is operating with milk or whey as washing medium,
an evaporation is achieved. The main purpose of a wet scrubber is of course to prevent
air pollution by recovering the powder contained in the exhaust air. However, in the
scrubber the exhaust air is cooled from the outlet temperature to the wet bulb tempera-
ture, i.e. to about 45C, thus utilizing the heat for pre-evaporation of the milk before
this enters into the evaporator. The effect of the wet scrubber on the total heat econ o-
my of the milk powder production line is substantial, and the savings together with
product recovery are covering running costs inclusive of the relatively short return of
the investment.
To explain the evaporation process an I-X diagram is used. See Fig. 97. The starting
point is the condition of air entering the scrubber. This air will contain moisture partly
due to the moisture always present in ambient air (usually 7 g/kg dry air) partly due to
the evaporated water during the drying process (e.g. 42 g/kg dry air, as in the previous
case with the two-stage spray dryer operated at 230C, see page 140). The sum will be
around 50 g moisture/kg dry air (point A). With an outlet temperature of the dry-
er/inlet temperature to the scrubber of 80C and outlet temperature from the scrubber
of 50C, we will get a moisture content of 65 g/kg dry air (point B), as the curve will
follow the adiabatic lines. The evaporation is therefore 65 g - 50 g = 15 g moisture/kg
dry air.
As we have about 42,000 kg/h air including the air from the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™,
we get an evaporation of about 630 kg/h corresponding to 3.5% of the total water
evaporation in the dehydration system.
The heat savings are, however, achieved only if the wet scrubber can operate with the
product as scrubbing medium which is the case with skim milk and whey. Water is
used when whole milk powder is produced.
The temperature in the scrubber offers favourable conditions for bacterial contamina-
tion. The scrubber should therefore be used only when milk of first class is available.
If the equipment is operated according to the instruction manual, which describes in-
- 175 -
- 176 -
termediate cleaning after 10 hours, the bacteriological activity will be minimal, as the
retention time is considerably less than the generation time of the bacteria.
As it was the case with preheating with condensate, the wet scrubber offers a multiple
advantage, as besides the heat recuperation it solves the pollution problem, and further
the system has a substantial evaporation capacity. Part of the advantage is, however,
lost again due to the needed intermediate cleaning after 10 hours. Use of wet scrub-
bers circulated with product is therefore not used very often in the industry.
The above mentioned systems for saving energy, apart from two-stage drying, have all
required that the evaporator and spray dryer are operated at the same time. However,
in some cases only the spray dryer is operated. Attempts have therefore been made to
develop a heat recuperator for the spray dryer alone.
Heat Recuperators
The aim in a heat recuperator is to transfer the heat contained in the outlet air, having
temperatures of 80-95C, from the spray dryer and to utilize it e.g. to preheat the dry-
ing air. But it is also possible to use the recuperated heat to heat water for cleaning
purposes or air for heating rooms. In the following only preheating of the drying air is
discussed.
In principle, there are two different recuperating systems:
 Air-to-Air
 Air-Liquid-Air
Both systems are incorporated after the fines separator. However, incorporating a bag
filter prior to the heat recuperator increases the efficiency, as deposits on the heat su r-
face cannot be completely avoided even with correctly selected air velocities in the
dust-loaded air. It is possible to operate the recuperator several days without cleaning,
but should it prove necessary to clean the equipment, this is done by means of a built -
in CIP system.
If the heat recuperator is designed to cool the outgoing air below the condensation
temperature (depending upon moisture content per kilo dry air), also the condensation
enthalpy is used for preheating. In this case a bag filter is installed prior to the heat re-
cuperator to avoid deposits in the intermediate zone between the dry and wet area.
Even bigger savings are then possible than the ones described below, which are all
calculated without condensation.
- 177 -
Fig. 98 Heat recuperator type air-to-air
Fig. 99 One –stage spray dryer with heat recuperator type air-to-air
- 178 -
Air-to-Air Heat Recuperator
In the heat recuperator type air-to-air, see Fig. 98, the drying air is preheated by means
of the outgoing air passing counter-currently over the heat surface of the recuperator.
This surface is formed as a number of tubes, inside of which the outgoing warm air is
passing while the cold air is passing on the outside.
The incorporation of this equipment in an existing plant may prove difficult and ex-
pensive, as it may require large and long air ducts from which part of the recuperated
energy is lost due to radiation, if the ducts are not insulated. In new installations it is
easier to incorporate this type of heat recuperator, as the arrangement can be opti-
mized with short air ducts. See Fig. 99.
The temperature to which the air can be preheated depends upon the temperature of
the outgoing air. Therefore, this type of heat recuperator is most beneficial in combi-
nation with a one-stage spray dryer where the temperature of the outgoing air is high.
The figures mentioned below are based upon a one-stage plant as mentioned in the ta-
ble on page 140.

Outgoing air cooled from 93C to 51C:
Without Recuperator:
With Recuperator:
Air-Liquid-Air Heat Recuperator

Another system, more flexible regarding the installation, is the air-liquid-air heat re-
cuperator, see Fig. 100. This system is divided in two heat exchangers, in between
which a heat transfer liquid is circulated, for example water. See Fig. 100a. If, due to
low air temperatures during winter, it may be expected that the temperature of the wa-
ter gets below zero, an anti-freeze agent is added to the water. As the heat transfer co-
efficient is higher for air-liquid than for air-air, this system is more efficient than the
air-to-air heat recuperator despite the fact that two heat surfaces are needed.
The heat transfer surface placed in the outgoing air is formed as a bundle of tubes i n-
side which the dust-loaded air is passed. On the outside of the tubes the water streams
- 179 -
Fig. 100 Heat recuperator type air-liquid-air
Fig. 100a One-stage spray dryer with heat recuperator type air-liquid-air
- 180 -
counter-currently. The heat transfer surface placed in the inlet air is a normal finned
tube heat exchanger. Water is recycled by means of a centrifugal pump.
If a recuperator of this type is installed in a one-stage spray dryer, the below men-
tioned heat savings are possible:

Outgoing air cooled from 93C to 44C:
Without Recuperator:
With Recuperator:
If indirect oil- or gas-fired air heaters are used, the heat transfer liquid can - after the
passage through the exhaust air heat exchanger - be passed through a heat exchanger
placed in the combustion air duct, whereby even further savings can be achieved.
Other Means of Saving Energy

When a new milk powder factory is designed there is a very simple method of pre-
heating the drying air, namely by locating the air inlet filters inside the building where
the dryer is. Then the incoming air is picking up the radiation heat from the dryer and
possibly also from the evaporator and other equipment, especially if the air inlet to the
building is placed at the top, and the air filter is placed at the bottom of the building or
vice versa. A potential disadvantage of this method is the danger that the cold air from
outside may hit and cool some parts undesirably, cyclones for example, causing the
risk of condensation and deposits. Besides, the incoming air is picking up not only
heat, but also moisture resulting in an increase in the outlet air temperature, which
means a lower capacity.
If indirect oil or gas-fired air heaters are used, it is possible to install a process
air/combustion air heat recuperator directly on the air heater. The combustion air has
typically a temperature of >300C, but the quantity in kg/h is low; further there will
always be a risk that in a leaking heat exchanger some of the combustion air will enter
the process line stream. A heat exchanger with recycling water can be used as an al-
ternative.
- 181 -
- 182 -
All above mentioned heat exchange systems work in the same temperature level and
therefore cannot be used simultaneously.
Another way of saving energy is to start up the equipment needed for the production
of milk powder in the right sequence, i.e. to ensure that the spray dryer is started so
late that it will not be "waiting" for concentrate, as a considerable amount of energy is
wasted during such a waiting time. Computerized instrumentation including automatic
start-up is a remedy to overcome such problems.
When milk powder is sold, it will always have to fulfil maximum moisture contents,
which in most cases is 4% for skim milk powder. During storage of the powder there
will always be a certain moisture absorption depending upon the ambient conditions
and the packing material. The powder therefore has to be manufactured at a lower
moisture content to compensate for this absorption. Needless to say, the closer the
manufacturer can get to the limit the more energy is saved, as the moisture content in
the powder is direct related to the outlet temperature. Thus higher moisture content
means more capacity/Kcal.
The decision as to what heat recuperation system to select depends upon local condi-
tions such as prices for steam, oil and electricity. Further, different levels of rate of i n-
terest should be taken into consideration. Each case should therefore be calculated
thoroughly in order to find the optimal solution, thus ensuring the shortest return of
the investment.
- 183 -
- 184 -
Analytical Methods
Raw Milk, Concentrate and
Powder Properties
When producing milk powder for commercial use it must comply with certain stand-
ards both bacteriological, chemical, and physical. Obviously the quality of the final
powder is a function of the raw milk quality. It is therefore vital for a profitable pro-
duction to have milk of first class and to be able to analyze both the milk and the
powder to know if they meet the requirements, very often determined by official ex-
port authorities or direct by the governments.
In this chapter the most common analytical methods are described, and it is discussed
how to alter the relevant processing parameters in order to change the particular prop-
erty that fails to meet the standard.
Raw Milk Quality
Skim milk
The milk should be fresh and stored at max. 5C for max. 48 hours after milking, and
should not have had any pretreatment other than:
 Separation of cream/desludging by means of a centrifuge.

 One heat treatment at max. 72C and 15 sec.
The milk should be of a "class A" quality and be free from any additives and suspend-
ed solids (filtered 100 microns), with a typical specification as detailed below:
- Total solids: approx. 9%

- Total plate count: max. 250,000/ml
- Thermophile count: max. 100/ml
- Thermophile spore count: max. 10/ml
- Sediment test: max. 0.5 mg
- pH: between 6.6 and 6.8
- Titratable acidity: max. 0.15% as lactic acid
- True lactic acid: max. 10 mg/100 g
- Protein content: between 37% and 38% on SNF
- Fat content: max. 0.05%
- Non condensable gases: max. 0.02% by weight
- 185 -
- 186 -
Whole Milk
The milk must be fresh and stored at max. 5C for max. 48 hours after milking, and
must not have had any pretreatment other than:
 Separation of cream/desludging by means of a centrifuge.

 Standardization of fat content by separation of cream and or addition of skim milk.
 One heat treatment at max. 72C and 15 sec.
The milk should be of a "class A" quality and be free from any additives (apart from
fresh cream for standardization) and suspended solids (filtered 100 microns), with a
typical specification as detailed below:
- Total plate count: max. 250,000/ml
- Thermophile count: max. 100/ml
- Thermophile spore count: max. 10/ml
- Sediment test: max. 0.5 mg
- pH: between 6.6 and 6.8
True lactic acid: max. 10 mg/100 ml
- Protein content: between 37% and 38% on SNF
- Fat content: max. 28% on total solids
Sweet Whey
The whey originates from the production of cheese made from fresh cow's milk, free
from any additives. The whey will have had one single pretreatment, being separation
of fat and insoluble particles.
The sweet whey will typically correspond to the following specification:

- Curd fines test: max. 200 mg/kg
- pH: min. 6.3
- True lactic acid: max. 20 mg/100 g
- Lactose content: min. 70%, max. 74% on SNF
- Protein content: min. 12% on SNF
- Calcium content: max. 300 ppm
- Magnesium content: max. 100 ppm
- Chloride content: max. 1,200 mg/l
When the whey is stored between the cheese factory and the evaporation process at a
temperature exceeding 10C, then the storage time should not exceed one hour. If the
storage temperature is below 10C, then the storage time should not exceed ten hours.
- 187 -
NaOH
strength ¼N 1/10 N 1/9 N
Alcali converted to
Acidity °S.H. °N, °Th °D % “Lactic Acid”
0.4 1 0.9 0.009
4.0 10 9.0 0.090
4.4 11 9.9 0.099
4.8 12 10.8 0.108
5.2 13 11.7 0.117
5.6 14 12.6 0.126
6.0 15 13.5 0.135
6.4 16 14.4 0.144
6.8 17 15.3 0.153
7.2 18 16.2 0.162
7.6 19 17.1 0.171
8.0 20 18.0 0.180
8.4 21 18.9 0.189
8.8 22 19.8 0.198
9.2 23 20.7 0.207
9.6 24 21.6 0.216
10.0 25 22.5 0.225
12.0 30 27.0 0.270
Fig. 101 Comparison of titratable acidity based on solely on alcali consumption
- 188 -
Analyses for Raw Milk
Acidity (pH)
The pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion (H +) activity in aqueous solutions. The most
exact measure of pH is obtained electrometrically by means of a pH-meter. The pH in
normal fresh milk from healthy cows is 6.6 
mastitis infections, whereas values below 6.5 indicate the presence of colostrum or
bacterial deterioration. Milk with deviating pH should be rejected from the milk pow-
der production, as the heat stability most probably will be inferior.
Titratable Acidity
The acidity in milk is measured, for example by titration with a 0.1 n NaOH solution,
and indicates the consumption of NaOH necessary to shift the pH-value from 6.6 
0.1 (corresponding to fresh milk) to a pH-value of 8.2 - 8.4 (phenolphthalein).
Lactic acid is an organic acid with one carboxylic acid, CH 3-CHOH-COOH, having a
molecular weight of 90. One ml 0.1 n NaOH therefore corresponds to:
90 x 0.1
= 0,009 g of lactic acid
1000
If the titration requires e.g. 14.5 ml 0.1 n NaOH, the result is often expressed as:
14.5 x 0.009  0.13% lactic acid (see Fig. 101)
However, fresh milk contains practically no lactic acid, and the consumption of NaOH
is used to change the pH-value of the following components:
Carbondioxide equivalent to 0.01% lactic acid

Citrates - 0.01% lactic acid
Casein - 0.07% lactic acid
Albumin/globulin - 0.01% lactic acid
Phosphates - 0.03% lactic acid
Titratable acidity equivalent to 0.13% lactic acid
The determination of "acidity" in fresh milk by means of titration is therefore more a

measure of the buffer action of milk than anything else.
It is thus necessary to talk about the developed acidity, which is the result of bacterial
activity producing lactic acid during milk collection, transportation, and processing.
- 189 -
Fig. 102 Laboratory measuring equipment for “Air in Milk Concentrate”
- 190 -
The developed acidity will, needless to say, be more pronounced if the milk is not
cooled.
In order to avoid the uncertainties about the degree of titratable acidity or developed
acidity, it is necessary to use direct determination of lactic acid during the processing.
This is done in order to find whether any of the installed equipment is responsible for
developing acidity expressing activity of not only the bacteria alive after a pasteuriza-
tion, but also previous activity of bacteria killed during the heat treatment.
Analyses for Milk Concentrate
Content of Air in Milk Concentrate
Air in the concentrate should be avoided by any means, as it upsets the whole concen-
trate pre-treatment and drying.
It is possible to measure the content of air in the concentrate by using the equipment
as shown in Fig. 102. The apparatus is set under vacuum with the glass stopper and
valve B, C and D closed, and A open. The system is filled up by NaCl solution by
sucking it into the apparatus by a vacuum pump, leaving the 100 ml concentrate con-
tainer empty and 1-2 ccm of air in the graduated glass tube on the "air side". The con-
centrate to be tested should now be filled into the 100 ml container, which is then
closed. The amount of air (should be 1-2 ccm) in the "air container" is noted. Then the
vacuum pump is started again, and the valve A is opened slowly. By a proportional
calculation of the expansion (shown in ml in the graduated glass pipes) of the
"known" amount of air in the "air" container compared to the expansion of the un-
known amount of air in the concentrate, it is possible to calculate the content of ml of
air/100 ml of concentrate. Reference is made to GEA Niro Analysis No. B 4 a.
Solubility
Measurement of Insolubility Index is usually performed on milk powder, see page

205. Should it for example not be possible to trace the problems with too high Insolu-
bility Index by changing the drying parameters, it is recommended to perform the test
on the concentrate. The amount of concentrate to be used is calculated as follows:
g powder x 100
g concentrate =
%TS of concentrate
g powder = 10 g skim milk, 13 g whole milk, or 6 g whey powder. The rest of the pro-
cedure is as described for powder.
- 191 -
Fig. 103 Determination of moisture
- 192 -
Scorched Particles
Measurement is usually performed on milk powder, see page 207. Should it for exam-
ple not be possible to trace the problem in the spray dryer, if there are too many
scorched particles, it is recommended to look at the filter pad in a microscope. If the
brown particle has not got a "spray particle" structure, but rather that of a jelly lump,
then the problem is most likely from deposits in the tubes in the evaporator. The
Scorched Particle test is therefore performed on the concentrate. The amount of con-
centrate to be used is:
g powder x 100
g concentrate =
%TS of concentrate
g powder = 25 g skim milk, 32.5 g whole milk, or 15 g whey powder. The rest of the
procedure is as described for powder.
Analyses for Milk Powder
Moisture
All milk powder has to meet a requirement for residual moisture. For skim milk it is
usually 4% and for whole milk usually 2.5%. There may naturally be deviations from
country to country.
The moisture content will have an influence on the keeping quality of the powder.
High moisture content (high water activity Aw) will thus decrease the keeping quality,
as the proteins will denaturate and the lactose, which is found in an amorphous stage,
will crystallize causing the free fat to increase in whole milk powders, and oxidation
of the fat will be the result. The Maillard reaction, which is a reaction between the
NH2 group in the aminoacid lysine, and lactose, becomes more pronounced, and the
powder may even become brown and lumpy. The Maillard reaction is directly propor-
tional to the storage time, temperature and residual moisture content. The moisture
can be controlled by the outlet temperature of the dryer or by applying more heat to
the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. Moisture absorption should be avoided, and dehumidifi-
cation of the cooling air is recommended in humid areas.
The packing material should be of such a quality that very little vapour will penetrate
the bag or container. As there will always be some vapour diffusion (and the diffusion
direction is determined by the water vapour pressure) it is recommended to store the
powder in a dry, cool place, where the water vapour pressure will be low.
- 193 -
Fig. 104 Determination of powder bulk density
- 194 -
Residual moisture is determined by a simple drying oven method. The powder is dried
at 102-105C for three hours. The difference in weight (i.e. weight loss) is determined
and the moisture calculated in per cent of the powder weight, see Fig. 103.
Various quick methods for determination of moisture have also been developed. They
usually work with a powerful heating lamp, the voltage of which can be adjusted. This
type of equipment will never be so accurate as the drying oven method, but is a great
help during operation of a plant, as the operator can have quick response from the l a-
boratory enabling him to find suitable drying parameters.
Automatic control of the moisture content is measured with infrared light. The reflec-
tion from the sample is direct proportional to the moisture content, and the output is
used to control the outlet temperature by regulation of either the feed pump or the heat
applied to the heating section of the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™.
Bulk Density
The bulk density is an economically, commercially, and functionally important prop-

erty. When shipping powders over long distances the producers are of course interest-
ed in a high bulk density in order to reduce the shipping volume. A high bulk density
also saves packing material and storage capacity.
For some powders the aim is a low bulk density, obtained by agglomeration, for opti-
cal reasons, or because of requirements to instant powder production.
Bulk density is defined as the weight of a given volume of powder and is expressed in
g/ml, g/100 ml, or g/l. The reciprocal value is the bulk volume which is expressed in
ml/100 g or ml/g. The bulk volume is usually used when a graduated cylinder glass is
used for the determination. The volume of 100 g of powder is then measured in the
cylinder. As to the other method giving the bulk density, the weight of the powder in a
100 ml cylinder is measured. Both results can naturally be converted to the other ex-
pression. See Fig. 104. The value may either be expressed as tapped 0 times (loose),
tapped 10 times (poured), 100 times, or 1250 times. Various types of equipment can
be used for the tapping. Also manual tapping is used. The intensity of the tapping is
naturally influencing the value.
The bulk density of milk powders is a very complex property, as it is a result of sever-
al other properties. However, the primary factors determining the bulk density are:
 Particle density, given by:

- the solids density, a function of product composition
- the content of occluded air in the particles
 Amount of interstitial air, i.e. air between particles (agglomeration)
 Flowability
- 195 -
- 196 -
These properties are discussed in the following.
Particle Density/Occluded Air
The particle density is given by the density of the powder solids and the occluded air
in the particles. The powder solids density expresses the density of solids without any
air and is given by the composition of the powder. When the composition and the den-
sity of the single components are known the density of the solids (D solids) can be
calculated using the following formula:
100
D Solids = (18)
%A %B %C
+ + + etc. + % W
DA DB DC
where %A, %B, %C are equivalent to the composition and DA, DB, and DC the corre-
sponding solids density. %W is the percentage of moisture. The solids densities of
various typical components in milk powders are as follows:
Solids, air and moisture free: Density, g/ml at 20C:
Milk fat 0.94

Non-fat milk solids 1.52
Calcium caseinate phosphate complex 1.39
Amorphous lactose 1.52
Beta-lactose 1.59
Alpha-lactose monohydrate 1.545
Powder solids density cannot be changed without changing the composition and is
thus for a given product constant.
The particle density may be measured in an air pycnometer. However, as this equip-
ment is not available in all laboratories, the petroleumether method will be discussed.
A given amount of powder is mixed with a given volume of petroleumether in a grad-
uated measuring cylinder:
W
D particle = (19)
V1 - V2
where:
D particle: particle density in g/ccm
W particle: weight of powder in g
V1 particle: volume of powder + petroleumether in ml
V2 particle: volume of petroleumether in ml
- 197 -
Fig. 105 Bulk density as influenced by the pasteurization temperature

(expressed in mg WPNI/g skim milk powder)
- 198 -
The occluded air content is calculated as follows:
100 100
Voa = - (20)
D particle D solids
where:
Voa = Volume of occluded air in ccm/100 g powder
D particle = Particle density, see formula (19)
D solids = Density of solids, see formula (18)
The particle density for the reciprocal value of the occluded air content is influenced
by many factors previously discussed. They are summarized here:
 Pasteurization temperature of the milk prior to evaporation

 Amount of air in the concentrate
 Foaming ability of the concentrate
 Type of wheel used or size of nozzle
 Solids content in the concentrate
 Drying conditions (one-stage or two-stage)
Pasteurization temperature of the milk prior to evaporation

The pasteurization temperature of the milk prior to the evaporation changes the dena-
turation degree of the whey proteins and thereby their physical stage and behaviour
during drying. High pasteurization temperature results in many denatured whey pro-
teins being very compact and different from undenatured whey proteins which are
spongelike. Undenatured whey proteins have a higher "water binding power". A big-
ger t or driving force is therefore necessary to evaporate the last moisture with case-
hardening as a result. A high degree of denaturation will therefore give low occluded
air content (high particle and bulk density) and vice-versa. See Fig. 105.
Amount of air in the concentrate

The amount of air in the feed naturally gives a high content of occluded air, especially
if the surrounding air temperature during the critical stage of the drying is high caus-
ing case-hardening. See page 125.
Foaming ability of the concentrate

The foaming ability of the feed is determining how much of the air whipped into the
concentrate will remain there and in the created droplets. See page 125 and page 191.
- 199 -
- 200 -
Type of wheel used or size of nozzle
Besides the foaming ability of the concentrate, the type of wheel and nozzle is deci-
sive as to the amount of air that will be whipped into the concentrate.
Solids content in the concentrate

Feed concentration plays an important role and high concentration gives less occluded
air content.
Drying conditions (one-stage or two-stage)

The drying conditions and temperature of the particle during the drying are one of the
main factors. Gentle drying, i.e. low surrounding temperatures as in two-stage drying
results in low occluded air.
Interstitial Air
This is a very complex property, too. The less interstitial air (the air that occupies the
space between particles/agglomerates) the higher bulk density.
The amount of interstitial air is determined by the particle size distribution and the
degree of agglomeration. The content of interstitial air can be calculated as follows:
100 100
Via = - (21)
D powder D particle
where:
Via = Volume of interstitial air in ccm/100 g powder
D powder = Powder bulk density (tapped 100x) in g/ccm, page 195
D particle = Particle density in g/ccm, see formula (19)
A powder with particles of the same diameter would be ideal from a drying point of
view, but undesirable from a bulk density point of view, as the air space (the interst i-
tial air) between the particles will be very large thus resulting in low bulk density. The
ideal is a wide particle size distribution with enough small particles to fill out the
space between the medium and large particles thus resulting in a powder with high
bulk density. There is, however, a limit as to how small particles are wanted from a
recovery point of view, plus the fact that a powder with many small particles will be
dusty. Furthermore, they will affect the flowability negatively.
A wider particle size distribution, but in the bigger particle size spectrum is therefore
wanted. This can be obtained by using high solids content and/or viscosity, reducing
the velocity of the wheel or pressure of the pressure nozzles, or using bigger nozzle
size. The result will however be very dubious in a single-stage dryer where the bigger
- 201 -
Fig. 106 Apparatus for measuring the flowability
- 202 -
particles call for higher outlet temperature thus increasing the occluded air content
due to reasons already discussed (case hardening). Powders with extremely high bulk
density can therefore only be achieved in two-stage dryers.
The powder leaving the chamber will, as earlier discussed, be slightly agglomerated
due to the primary agglomeration. In a one-stage dryer equipped with pneumatic con-
veying system, the problem does not occur due to the mechanical treatment it is ex-
posed to. But in two-stage dryers the primary agglomeration is significant. The ag-
glomeration is developed due to the powder being more thermoplastic. As the me-
chanical treatment in the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ is very gentle, the agglomerates are
not broken up. A pressure conveying system is therefore recommended, if a powder
with very high density is wanted. It should however be pointed out that the primary
agglomeration has a positive influence on the flowability of the powder.
It has been observed that freshly made powder often exhibits low bulk density which
increases several days after the production. This is caused by the electrostatic charge
of the powder making the particles stick together, forming "agglomerates". As the
time passes the powder will lose the charge and behave normally. An effective earth
connection of all parts of the drying equipment can to some extent solve this problem.
Flowability
The flowability of a powder is not fully understood. Two free-flowing powders mixed
together will not necessarily be free-flowing. A good flowability is obtained from
large particles or agglomerates without small particles - this will, however, tend to de-
crease the bulk density. Also the particle surface plays an important role and especial-
ly the content of free fat. Nozzles are generally believed to produce particles with bet-
ter flow-properties than the wheel, especially in whole milk powder. A powder with a
good flowability will increase especially the poured and loose bulk density.
Many attempts have been made to develop a suitable method for measuring the flow-
ability - some methods are measuring the angle of repose for a given amount of pow-
der and some methods the time it takes the powder to pass through a hole in a funnel
with a given diameter. Common for these methods are, however, that they are suitable
for powders with a good flowability, whereas they cannot be used if the powder is not
free-flowing. Further, the result is influenced by the ambient conditions especially the
humidity of the air.
A method developed by GEA Niro is however suitable for any kind of powder. In this
method the time is measured by a given volume of powder to flow through well de-
fined slits in a drum rotating with a given revolution/min. See Fig. 106.
- 203 -
Fig. 107 Determination of insolubility index
- 204 -
Solubility
That milk powder has to be soluble in water is obvious. However, not all of the com-
ponents in the powders are soluble when reconstituted in water. In powders produced
in modern dryers, this amount is very small and approaching 100% solubility. Never-
theless, powders with a bad solubility are still produced and any dryer can in fact be
maloperated resulting in a powder with bad solubility.
The method for measuring the solubility is very simple, well defined, and easy to per-
form:
10 g of skim milk powder, 13 g of whole milk powder or 6 g of whey powder

(or equivalent amount of concentrate depending on solids content) is mixed with
100 ml of water at approx. 24C in a mixer at high speed for 90 sec. The milk is
then left for 15 min. after which it is stirred with a spatula. 50 ml is filled into a
graduated 50 ml centrifuge glass with conically graduated bottom. The glass is
spun in a centrifuge for 5 min., the sediment-free liquid is sucked off, the glass
is filled up again with water (to make the reading easier), and the content is
stirred up. Then the glass is put into the centrifuge and spun for 5 min. after
which the sediment is read. See Fig. 107.
The sediment is expressed in ml and is termed Insolubility Index. It is usually below

0.2 ml in powder from good quality milk dried in modern well-designed evaporators
and dryers.
The reasons for high Insolubility Index (i.e. bad solubility) in a powder may be many.
It is usually denatured caseins or very complex combinations of casein-whey protein
and lactose, the chemistry of which is not fully understood. The main contributing
factors are:
 Bad quality milk with a high development of lactic acid, i.e. bacterial activity will
result in high Insolubility Index, as any extensive heat-treatment will cause an ir-
reversible protein denaturation, especially of the caseins.
 High temperatures of the concentrate during the evaporation will cause a pro-
nounced age-thickening resulting in viscosity increase and bad atomization, i.e.
high temperatures during the drying.
 Generally it may be said that the higher temperatures and viscosities during the
processing, the higher Insolubility Index may be expected. Powders with a high
lactose content such as baby food will practically never get a high Insolubility In-
dex, as lactose protects the proteins from denaturation.
 Powders dried according to the one-stage drying principle will more easily get a
high Insolubility Index than from the two-stage drying principle.
- 205 -
Fig. 108 Determination of scorched particles
- 206 -
It is not only the dryer, which is to blame for high Insolubility Index. Also the evapo-
rator may harm the concentrate. It is, however, measured very rarely. But if a factory
has untraceable problems, it is recommended to investigate the concentrate. This is
done by using the same method as described above, but with an amount of concentrate
depending on the solids content and corresponding to the specified amount of powder.
See page 191. If milk powders with high Insolubility Index are used in "compounded"
products like baby food, a correspondingly higher Insolubility Index should be ex-
pected.
Scorched Particles
Scorched particles are generally accepted to be a measure for any deposits in the dry-
ing chamber having been exposed to high temperatures thus getting scorched, discol-
oured and at the same time insoluble.
However, it is not only the dryer that contributes to the scorched particles, as even the
raw milk may contain some dirt or sediment, and if not clarified in a separator these
will be found in the powder.
Also from the evaporator brown, insoluble, jelly lumps may contribute to the scorched
particles, if deposits have been formed in the tubes due to insufficient coverage of the
tubes, (remedies for this have been discussed earlier, page 37) or insufficient cleaning.
If it has been concluded that the scorched particles originate from the dryer, the reason
is very often deposits in the wheel or around the nozzles or in the air disperser. How
to solve the problem may differ from case to case, but adjustment of the air disperser
will usually help in most cases.
The test for determining scorched particles is simple and rapid:
25 g skim milk powder, 32.5 g whole milk powder or 15 g whey powder (or
equivalent amount of concentrate depending on total solids), is mixed with 250
ml of water of 18-28C in 60 sec. in the same kind of mixer as used for insolu-
bility index. The milk solution is filtered and the filter pad is compared with a
standard for classification. The scorched particles are expressed as A, B, C, or D
depending on the intensity and colour of the particles left on the filter. See
Fig. 108.
If scorched particles cannot be traced to the evaporator, see page 191 or the spray dry-
er, they may originate from milk powder used in "compounded" products like baby
food.
- 207 -
- 208 -
Total Fat
The total fat in the whole milk powder is a question of standardizing the raw milk pri-
or to the processing and has got nothing to do with the drying process.
The standardizing is carried out either by adding skim milk or cream to the milk, or
removing cream from the milk, depending on the content of fat in the raw milk and
the fat content aimed at in the final powder. Standardizing tanks equipped with agita-
tors are in most cases used, but other methods are also recommendable.
As the fat content in the raw milk in practically all cases is too high when producing
whole milk powder, skim milk powder is sometimes used for standardizing. The
equipment needed is an in-line powder/liquid blender known from recombining
plants. As the solids content will increase by adding skim milk powder, the evaporator
should be designed accordingly.
For an accurate determination of the fat in whole milk powder the Rose-Gottlieb
method is used and for a quick determination the Gerber method is used.
Surface Free Fat
In whole milk powder the fat is present as fine globules covered with a membrane
substance and distributed evenly in the particles. However, not all the fat is protected
by a membrane, especially on the surface of the particle, but it is also found inside the
particles. This type of fat is termed Free Fat, and it will have a direct influence on the
shelf-life of the powder and is directly responsible for the non-wettable surface when
the powder is mixed with cold water.
Free fat in the whole milk powder cannot be avoided but reduced considerably. This is
done by:
 Avoiding excessive pumping and agitation of the raw uncondensed milk. Recir-
culation in the evaporator should be avoided by all means.
 The pasteurization of the milk prior to the evaporator plays a role. Direct pas-
teurization, especially at low temperature, results in low viscosity of the concen-
trate and a fine atomization with a big surface to mass ratio leading to increased
free fat content.
 The free fat is most efficiently reduced by homogenization of the concentrate,

preferably in a two-stage homogenizer. In the first stage a pressure drop of 70-
100 kg/cm2 is applied. The fat globules will disintegrate into small globules
which might - due to static electricity - agglomerate again, i.e. they will consist
- 209 -
Fig. 109 Determination of surface free fat
- 210 -
of many small fat globules. In the second stage a pressure drop of 25-50 kg/cm2
is applied breaking up above mentioned agglomerates.
 It is a general rule that nozzles produce a powder with a lower free fat content
than with the wheel, mainly due to the homogenization effect of the nozzle.
 Any strong mechanical handling of the powder should be avoided, and then it is
not astonishing that the two-stage drying gives a powder with a lower free fat
content than the one-stage drying.
 In plants with integrated fluid beds the free fat will increase, if the bed tempera-
ture is too low signifying too high moisture content in the powder which results
in lactose crystallization. See however page 313, where production of whole
milk powder with high free fat used in the chocolate industry is discussed.
To determine the free fat in the powder 50 ml of petroleumether and 10 g of powder

are mixed slowly for exactly 15 min. The mixture is filtrated and 25 ml of the filtrate
is evaporated, the residue weighed and the free fat percentage is calculated either
based on total fat or more commonly based on the powder. See Fig. 109.
In another method for determination of the free fat toluene is used, and the extraction
time is sometimes as long as 24 hours. The result will naturally be different from that
obtained by the above method.
It is generally accepted that the first method gives results representing the surface free
fat, whereas the other methods represent the total free fat, i.e. also what is inside the
pores and capillary network.
Wettability
The wettability is a measure for the ability of a powder to be wetted with water at a
given temperature. This analytical method is only used when producing instant pow-
ders. It is obvious that the wettability depends on the surfaces of the agglomerates or
single particles - are they water repellent or will they absorb water too quickly thus
forming a film through which the water cannot penetrate.
Generally speaking, wetting is a process in which the gaseous phase at the surface of
the solid phase is replaced by a liquid phase, all three phases coexisting for some
time, so that a certain amount of intermixtures and solutions (mainly of the solid and
the liquid phase) is not only possible but usually unavoidable.
Besides this, milk powder must be considered as a composite surface with the sepa-
rately enclosed surfaces connected by more or less stable 'bridges' to form a complex
capillary network. For simplification, let us first discuss the mechanism of wetting a
single surface.
- 211 -
- 212 -
The factor deciding if there will be any wetting at all is the interfacial tension between
the particle surface and the water. Skim milk powder particles will usually be wetted
easily (provided there is less than 0.03% fat on the surface), as the powder material is
mainly lactose being in an amorphous phase and protein, both absorbing water readily.
However, whole milk powder particles are always covered by a layer of fat, making
them water repellent. The amount of this surface free fat varies between 0.5 and 3% of
the powder.
This water repellence of the particles caused by their fat coating may be overcome,
and an interfacial tension facilitating the wetting may be achieved by adding a surface
active agent to the surface free fat. It has been known for years that phospholipids
such as lecithin are well suited for this purpose. Lecithin has the advantage of being a
natural product and even a natural component of milk, and being both lipophilic and
hydrophilic it is able to absorb water. See page 251.
When the particles have been wetted, the individual components of the milk powder
start dissolving and dispersing, thus forming a concentrated solution of milk around
the particles. At the same time the particles start sinking to the bottom, but it should
be mentioned that, in order to make the particles sink, the density of the particles has
to be greater than that of the water.
The density of a particle depends on its composition and amount of occluded air. Dur-
ing the first stages of reconstitution the density of the particles decreases, mainly be-
cause the lactose and the minerals, which are the heaviest milk components, start di s-
solving faster than the other components. At the same time, the density of the solution
being formed is increased because of the dissolving lactose, so that the difference be-
tween the densities of the particles and of the surrounding liquid is reduced. The par-
ticle density may even become the same or lower than that of the liquid, so that, after
the initial sinking, the particles start to rise again. Thus to prevent this, the particle
density should be high, i.e. the content of occluded air should be low. See page 213.
The reconstitution of a mass of powder is more complicated. As already mentioned,

powder is a composite surface with a greatly ramified system of capillaries of various
dimensions and a complicated geometrical pattern thus having different capillary at-
traction effects.
Under these conditions there will be wetting not only on the surface of the water, but
also of particles lying above the surface, as the water is drawn toward them by capil-
lary attraction. This replacement of interstitial air by water through capillary penetra-
tion is very often incomplete, as the amount of penetrating water is insufficient, thus
leaving air bubbles between the wetted particles. In this way we have all three phases
going on simultaneously, resulting in the coexistence of their products of varying con-
centrations. This coexistence is very dangerous, because after a short time the space
between the particles will be filled with milk of different, including high, concentra-
tions. This results in a sticky jelly with islands of unwetted powder and residual air.
Furthermore, lumps, that are wet and swollen outside and dry inside, are created.
- 213 -
Fig. 110 Determination of wettability
- 214 -
As these are impervious to water, their complete reconstitution is extremely difficult

even with strong agitation.
To obtain a fully reconstituted milk in a reasonably short time and with minimum ef-
fort, capillary penetration of water into the powder must therefore be avoided. The ca-
pillary effect depends on the structure of the powder, i.e. the size of the agglomerates,
the size and the amount of non-agglomerated particles, the amount of interstitial air
and the specific surface area of the powder. Penetration of water into the powder is
easily avoided/delayed - to allow dispersion before dissolution - when the powder
consists of large agglomerates.
The agglomeration is discussed on page 154.
The analytical method is simple and easy to perform:
10 g skim milk powder or 13 g whole milk is poured into 100 ml water at a giv-
en temperature, usually 20C  2C. The time required for all the powder to be
wetted is measured by means of a stop watch. IDF prescribes the use of 10 g
skim milk or whole milk powder in 250 ml water at a temperature of 25C. See
Fig. 110.
Skim milk powder should be wetted within 15 sec. to be termed instant. For whole
milk powder there is no requirement, but many producers of instant whole milk pow-
der manufacture the powder to the same standard as valid for the skim milk powder.
However, for the subsequent dispersing process, especially for whole milk powder, it
is advantageous that the wettability is about 30-60 sec., as it eases the subsequent dis-
persion of the powder into the water.
Dispersibility
Another important property of instant powders is the ability to disperse in water by

gentle stirring. This means that the powder should disintegrate into agglomerates
which again should disintegrate into the single primary particles.
To obtain a good dispersibility of a powder it is necessary that the powder is wettable

and that the agglomeration is optimal, i.e. no fine particles should be present.
The analytical method is very difficult to define and perform and the reproducibility is
very poor. There are numerous methods, and the results cannot be compared.
Being aware of that, IDF has developed a new dispersibility test. This test is based on
determining the capability of a powder (25 g of skim or 34 g of whole milk powder)
being poured on a surface of water (250 g, 25C) to disintegrate into particles capable
of passing through a 150-micron sieve when applying the prescribed manual stirring
for 20 sec. The amount of powder passing the sieve and being dissolved or dispersed
- 215 -
Fig. 111 Determination of dispersibility
- 216 -
is found by the determination of total solids of the filtrate and expressed in percentage
as dispersibility. See Fig. 111.
The powder is considered instant by IDF, if the dispersibility is at least 85% (whole
milk) or 90% (skim milk). However, plants with new drying technology easily pro-
duce powders with a dispersibility of 95%.
There is no doubt that this test presents a more reliable basis for assessment of instant
milk powders than the wettability test. On the other hand, it is a test requiring rel ative-
ly high expenditure of work, so it can hardly be used as a routine test. Besides, even
when using skilled workers the reproducibility is rather poor.
A more simple method is to pour 10 g of skim milk powder or 13 g of whole milk

powder into 100 ml of water at room temperature and then manually stir with a tea-
spoon until the powder is dispersed leaving no lumps on the bottom of the glass. The
time used is measured by means of a stop watch.
After some training the reproducibility is fairly good, and the method is quick. Fur-
thermore, it has the supreme advantage that it is just what the housewife does when
she wants to prepare a glass of milk.
Sludge
Similar to the IDF dispersibility (used only for instant cold-water soluble whole milk),
but only 12.5 g powder in 100 ml water at 25C and 85C is used. The sieve used is
600-micron. The residue on the sieve after filtration is weighed and recorded.
Slowly Dispersible Particles (SDP)
The same procedure as for Sludge is used. After filtration through the 600-micron
sieve the milk is poured into a test tube which is emptied again immediately. The re-
maining film with undissolved particles/agglomerates is compared with a photograph
5-grade scale. The SDP is determined in both 25C and 85C warm water. The reme-
dy to improve the SDP value is agglomeration.
Hot Water Test
Similar to the Sludge test using 85C. The reconstituted filtered milk is poured into
two graduated conical centrifuge glasses, similar to what is used for the Insolubility
- 217 -
- 218 -
Index, and spun in a centrifuge for 5 min. The result is expressed in ml sediment from
the two glasses added together. The result should preferably be <0.2 ml.
Coffee Test
Similar to Hot Water Test, but using coffee at 85C. Like SDP, and the Hot Water
Test, the result is determined by the degree of agglomeration, but for the coffee test
also the pasteurization of the milk prior to the evaporation (80-85C in 15 sec. with
WPNI  3 mg/g), the content of Ca++ and total protein content is important.
With high content of proteins in the milk (Jersey cows or milk from low season) it is
difficult to produce powders with a good coffee test, which should be <0.4 ml. Stand-
ardizing the milk with lactose or permeate to adjust the protein content is used in the
industry. Concentrate preheating to 80C and/or addition of phosphates and/or citrates
to precipitate the ionic Ca can be used as well.
Rate of Hydration
When the powder particles are dispersed evenly in the water they start to dissolve.
Usually, the dissolution starts already at the very first contact with water, and the wet-
ting, dispersing and dissolving or hydration take place simultaneously. The ability of a
powder to dissolve completely is expressed in the Insolubility Index (see page 205).
However, this method requires a rather strong mechanical agitation followed by up to
15 min. standing, while the idea of instant powders is to present to the consumers the
possibility of preparing reconstituted milk in a short time by means of gentle, manual
stirring. The reconstitution procedure used by the consumer is supposed to correspond
to the one used at the above dispersibility test. At this stage, however, the powder may
be dissolved only partly.
To fill this gap between the two methods a modified solubility test for the determina-
tion of the rate of hydration, especially for instant whole milk powder, can be applied.
In this method 0.5 g of powder is poured into 50 ml of water in an ordinary solubility
index glass. The glass is turned upside down 8 times after which it is spun in a centri-
fuge for 5 min. The resulting sediment is used in the calculation of the rate of hydra-
tion:
Rate of hydration = (ml sediment x 12) - Insolubility Index (22)
- 219 -
Fig. 112 Determination of hygroscopicity
- 220 -
Analyses for Whey Powder

When producing whey powder, especially the non-caking type, the following analyses,
and some of those mentioned under Analyses for Milk Powder, are appropriate:
Total Moisture and Free Moisture
During the manufacture of non-caking whey powder the lactose is crystallized during
which process the lactose picks up one molecule of water. In order to determine the
degree of crystallization the water bound to the crystals (crystal water) is measured as
the difference between the total moisture and the free moisture content.
The total moisture is determined by the Karl Fisher titration, the principle of which is
a reaction between iodine and sulphur dioxide in the presence of water. The free moi s-
ture content is determined in a drying oven at 86C in 6 hours.
% crystal water = % total moisture - % free moisture (23)
The degree of crystallization is calculated as follows:
% Crystalwater x 19 x 100
% Crystallization = (24)
% Lactose
For rapid routine tests of sweet whey the figure of 74% lactose may be used.
Hygroscopicity and Caking Properties
The hygroscopicity, i.e. the ability to absorb moisture, of the whey powders is deter-
mined by the degree of crystallization of the lactose. But also the salts and even the
proteins absorb water, however, only in a limited amount compared with the lactose.
The hygroscopicity of a given powder is determined by passing air with a given hu-
midity (80% RH at 20C) through a given amount of powder (see Fig. 112). When
equilibrium has been obtained the absorbed moisture is calculated by weighing the
powder sample before and after the absorption.
(% weight increase + % free Water) x 100

% Hygroscopicity = (25)
100 + weight increase
in non-hygroscopic powder this value should be <10%.
The caking properties of whey powder are even more important, as they are a measure
for the tendency to form hard lumps in bags during storage.
- 221 -
- 222 -
There is no direct relation between the hygroscopicity and cakeness, as a rich crystal-
lization in itself is not enough to prevent caking. Thus it is of importance that the
crystals are small, and that they are evenly distributed in all the powder particles. Due
to the moisture absorption in non-crystallized or badly crystallized powder, the crys-
tallization of any remaining amorphous lactose will start mainly on the surface of al-
ready existing crystals. The rate is thus depending on the distance between the indi-
vidual crystals. After termination of the crystallization the vapour pressure of the
powder moisture becomes higher than that of the surrounding air, so that the moisture
absorption is followed by a moisture desorption. The sticky powder formed during the
moisture increase will during the crystallization become cemented in hard lumps.
The method for determination of cakeness is carried out as follows:
The powder sample from the hygroscopicity test is dried at a temperature of

102C for 1 hour, after which it is cooled in a desiccator. The powder is then
sifted through a 500 micron sieve in a shaking apparatus for 5 min. Any powder
which has not passed through the sieve is weighed.
g powder left on the sieve x 100

Degree of caking in % = (26)
g powder used
Non-caking whey powders should have a degree of caking of <10%.
- 223 -
- 224 -
Dehydration of Foodstuffs
Different Food Ingredients

Foodstuffs are very often available as an aqueous solution, a slurry or a paste, having
a limited shelf life due to bacterial activity destroying the nutritive value of the prod-
uct, unless it is kept at low temperatures or preservatives are added, sugar or salt for
example, to reduce the bacterial activity.
Removal of water from the product will likewise reduce the bacterial activity in the
final product and thus ensure an almost infinite shelf life, if the product is dry enough
and kept in a dry, cold place.
Animal or vegetable food products, or combinations hereof, are characterized by their

content of:
 Proteins
 Carbohydrates
 Fat
 Starch
 Other ingredients
Proteins
Generally speaking, the more protein, the easier becomes the drying. With increased
protein content, the viscosity of the concentrate will increase and, to maintain good
atomization, it is necessary to reduce the solids content. Drying economy is thus re-
duced, as a pure protein product (egg white, Na- or K-caseinate) is dried from a feed
of 20-24% solids, and the final product consists of single particles.
Proteins are difficult to agglomerate (no binding material) in conventional dryers. The
Multi-Stage Dryer (MSD™) is therefore selected, if agglomerated powders are aimed
at.
Hydrolysed proteins are generally more difficult to dry, as the short-chain molecules
become thermoplastic and hygroscopic, which makes the product stick to the drying
chamber walls.
- 225 -
- 226 -
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates of different origins and forms are found in most food products. Gener-
ally speaking, the more carbohydrate, the more difficult becomes the drying process,
as carbohydrates, if dried from a non-crystallized feed, are thermoplastic and hygro-
scopic. Carbohydrates will reduce the viscosity of the concentrate.
One large group of carbohydrates is lactose, which is found only in milk and by-
products from milk processing, for example in whey from cheese production. The ad-
vantage of lactose from a drying point of view is that it can be precrystallized if found
in a supersaturated solution (high solids, low temperature). The sticking point temper-
ature is increased by precrystallization, and drying becomes easier.
Sucrose is used in food products as a sweetener, and also to add calories in e.g. baby
foods and other powdered beverages. If the final sucrose content in a product must be
larger than what is possible to incorporate in liquid form in the concentrate to be
dried, it is possible to add it in dry form into the spray dryer during the drying of the
liquid feed and thus obtain a blended, agglomerated, homogeneous final product.
Fructose as found in all fruits is very thermoplastic and hygroscopic. Products like
fruits therefore cannot be spray dried unless a filler is used as carrier, skim milk solids
or maltodextrine, for example.
Maltodextrine is another carbohydrate, which is frequently used as a filler, carrier, or

sweetener. With a DE of 10-40 it can be used in many food products, as it is easy to
dry.
Carbohydrates are excellent as binding material, and agglomerated products can easily
be produced, if the spray drying plant is designed for this purpose.
Fat
If fat is not found in the original food product, it may be added to reach a certain
composition. The more fat in a product, the lower the viscosity and the more difficult
becomes the spray drying (powder deposits). If the fat is found in free form (unpro-
tected by proteins) in the final product, the drying operation becomes even more diffi-
cult. Homogenization of the concentrate prior to spray drying is therefore recom-
mended. Homogenization will increase the viscosity of a concentrate slightly.
- 227 -
Fig. 113 Spray dryer for one-stage drying (SDP)
Fig. 114 Spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ as after-dryer, (SDI)
- 228 -
Starch
If the starch is precooled, it increases the viscosity. It is therefore necessary to lower

the solids content in the concentrate to be dried.
Other Ingredients
There is a wide variety of other ingredients that are typically added in small quantities,
such as:
 Vitamins
 Flavourings
 Emulsifiers
 Stabilizers
 Colours
In general, these do not cause too many problems during spray drying.
 Salts and other chemicals
The higher salt and chemical content the more difficult becomes the drying due to in-
creased hygroscopicity.
Ordinary Milk Powders

Non-agglomerated milk is usually referred to as ordinary milk powder. The most
common ones are skim milk and whole milk powders.
The applied drying process may be either one-stage drying, see Fig. 113, discussed on
page 123, or two-stage drying, see Fig. 114, discussed on page 131.
Prior to the evaporation the milk is clarified in a separator to remove dirt etc., and if
skim milk powder is produced the fat is also removed.
In the evaporator the milk is pasteurized at 70-100C depending on the powder speci-
fication to be complied with (see page 43). The milk is then condensed to 48-50% sol-
ids depending on the milk quality and the drying system used.
The spray dryer is operated at temperatures of 180-200C for whole milk powder and
180-230C for skim milk powder.
- 229 -
Fig. 115 Spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™

as agglomerator/instantizer, (SDI)
- 230 -
In one-stage drying the spray dryer is operated in such a way that the powder has
reached the final moisture content when leaving the drying chamber. In the two-stage
drying process the primary drying is carried out to about 2-10% above the final mois-
ture content. The excess moisture is evaporated in a static fluid bed and/or a
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, and the cooling is done in either a pneumatic cooling system,
or in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™.
Both rotary atomizer and nozzles may be used for atomizing the concentrate. If noz-
zles are used, it is necessary to heat the concentrate to 60-70C immediately before
the atomization in order to lower the viscosity. Today most new dryers operate with
heated concentrate, also if they are operated with rotary atomizers, as it, besides the
pasteurizing effect, brings along 3-5% extra evaporation capacity.
Typical drying conditions are shown below:
ONE-STAGE TWO-STAGE
Nozzles Wheel Nozzles Wheel
Skim Whole Skim Whole Skim Whole Skim Whole
Drying temp. C 180 180 200 180 210 200 210 200
Solids cont. % 45 42 48 48 47 47 48 48
The powder can be characterized by:
 Consisting of single particles

 High bulk density
 Dusty if it is skim milk powder
 Non-instant
Instant Milk Powders

During the last few decades there has been a growing market for powders which are
instantly soluble in cold water.
Ordinary non-agglomerated powders tend to lump when mixed with water, and if
strong mechanical stirring is not applied, it may result in an inhomogeneous mixture
which is not attractive to the consumer.
It has for a long time been known that an agglomerated powder, i.e. a powder where
the single particles have formed bigger granulates or agglomerates, see Fig. 115, pos-
- 231 -
Fig. 116 Agglomeration by fines return (Forced secondary agglomeration)
- 232 -
sesses completely different properties when mixed with water than it is the case with
ordinary powder.
The agglomeration is in detail discussed on page 154.
The plant is operated, so that the powder leaves the primary drying stage with 2-10%
higher moisture than wanted in the final product. The cyclone fraction is returned to
the atomizing device, where the dry fine particles will collide with the primary parti-
cles thus forming agglomerates. See Fig. 116.
The powder leaving the chamber is therefore warm, moist and consists of stable ag-
glomerates. Consequently by gentle after-drying performed in integrated fluid beds
and/or a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ the agglomerated product structures are maintained.
The cooling should always be done in a fluid bed.
The powder obtained by this process can be characterized by:
 agglomerated product structure

 non-dusty
 lower bulk density than for powder from the pneumatic plant
 good flowability
The decreased drying air outlet temperature and consequently lower product tempera-
ture will result in:
 improved solubility because of less thermal damage

 low content of occluded air, because in the critical stage of the drying,
with a water content of 30-10%, the blowing-up of the particles is avoided.
If we limit the above process to skim milk powder we will, by the mere agglomera-
tion, obtain a product with:
 good instant properties
Besides the manufacturing equipment it is necessary to have control of the quality of

the final powder, especially regarding the instant properties.
It is not astonishing that the first method which was introduced to distinguish instant
products was based on determining the property called wettability, as this is the most
conspicuous feature of an instant product compared with an ordinary product. It was
measured as the time necessary for wetting of a given amount of powder, i.e. the time
from the first contact with water until the powder had completely passed the water
surface.
- 233 -
Lecithination dosing equipment
- 234 -
It has later been realized that wetting is only a first step of a rather complicated reco n-
stitution process, and that this process consists of a number of phenomena which can
be described as follows:
Reconstitution phenomenon: Milk Powder Property:
Wetting Wettability
Dispersing Dispersibility
Dissolving Solubility
Splitting the reconstitution process into the above steps helps to understand the pro-
cess, for instance to be able to find the reasons for the lack of instant property. On the
other hand, one must be aware that there is no sharp borderline between these indivi d-
ual reconstitution steps, and it is therefore impossible to determine the individual
properties independently of the others. For a good evaluation of product properties all
these qualifications have to be considered.
Instant Skim Milk Powder
In order to obtain a skim milk powder with good instant properties the agglomeration
plays the most important part.
Wetting and dispersing of a single skim milk powder particle in water is no problem,
as the particle will dissolve quickly. If a bulk of unagglomerated skim milk powder is
poured into water, the first powder to come into contact with the water will dissolve
forming a concentrate film impervious to water, thus stopping any further wetting.
The resulting mixture will be difficult to disperse leaving wetted lumps with dry pow-
der inside on the surface of the water.
In order to avoid too quick wetting of the particles, these are agglomerated thus reduc-
ing the specific surface. The specific surface can also be reduced by bigger primary
particles, however, with a risk of a high insolubility index.
Furthermore, the instant properties, especially the wettability, are improved, if the ag-
glomerates are so compact that the moisture absorption and dissolving process are
prolonged enabling a dispersion of the powder agglomerates in the water, after which
the final dissolution can take place. Needless to say the powder should also have a
good insolubility index.
The agglomeration is improved by:
 Reduction of the pasteurization temperature before evaporation

 Higher solids content in the concentrate
 Bigger primary particles
- 235 -
Fig. 117 Process Diagram. Instant whole milk powder
- 236 -
Increased recycled amount of fines

 Fines introduction closer to the wheel or nozzle
 Increased moisture content in the powder from the drying chamber
Typical operation conditions for the spray dryer when producing a first class instant
skim milk powder, depending on type of dryer, will be:
 Drying temperature 200C  20C

 Solids content in the concentrate 48-50%
Instant Whole Milk Powder
In the case of whole milk powder it is required that the water is >40C, as whole milk
powder particles are always covered by a thin layer of fat making the powder repellent
in cold water. However, there has in the last decades been an ever increasing demand
for cold water instant whole milk powder, so besides the agglomeration it is necessary
to apply a surface active agent.
For this purpose lecithin (originating from soy beans) dissolved in pure butter-oil, in
order to make a liquid, may be used. Lecithin is superior as to the functional perfor-
mance, i.e. achieving of instant properties. The butter-oil is chosen also in order to use
a natural milk component, as using a vegetable fat, even it is done in many cases,
could be considered a falsification.
The amount of lecithin and of the total free fat (i.e. original free fat + added butter-oil
+ lecithin) in the final powder may vary from 0.1-0.3% and 1-2%, respectively. How-
ever, variations within these limits result in rather big differences as to the desired
properties.
One must be aware that a high amount of total free fat together with high amount of
lecithin improves the wettability, but on the other hand it is affecting the flowability
and may seriously affect the dispersibility. At lecithin levels >0.5% it is possible to
detect the characteristic soy flavour. The structure of the powder and the degree of ag-
glomeration are of importance too, as poorly agglomerated powders require higher
amount of wetting agent than well agglomerated products.
The processing diagram for the production of instant whole milk powder is shown in
Fig. 117. It can be seen that the whole process has been split into two subsequent pro-
cess lines, i.e. the manufacture of a basic powder in a plant as shown in Fig. 84, fol-
lowed by the lecithination and packing line, Fig. 118.
The splitting of the process line into two is the most advantageous way of operation,
as it will be explained below.
- 237 -
Fig. 118 Two-stage lecithination
Fig. 119 Lecithin dosing equipment
- 238 -
In the two-stage process the basic powder is collected for intermediate storage. It is
important to prevent any damage to the powder by mechanical treatment. The inter-
mediate storage is therefore preferably accomplished in tote-bins or similar containers
of 1-2 m3.
The basic powder is then transferred from the tote-bins into the supply silo and is me-
tered into the first VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ by means of a dosing screw. The powder is
heated and at the same time any fines are blown off.
The lecithin dosing equipment consists of two vessels, dosing pump, powder trap with
two-fluid nozzle, and control panel. The first vessel serves for the preparation of wet-
ting agent, and the second one as supply vessel, from where the wetting agent is me-
tered to the two-fluid nozzle for spraying on to the powder. See Fig. 119.
The flows, temperatures and pressures of the wetting agent and of the atomizing air
are recorded. Interlocking in the control panel ensures that the flow of powder will
stop automatically, if for some reason no lecithin is applied. Consequently no powder
will leave the plant without a proper lecithin coating. The second VIBRO-
FLUIDIZER™, also supplied with warm air, ensures a gentle but proper mixing of the
powder to obtain a uniform distribution of the lecithin mix over the particle surface.
The powder leaving the lecithination unit is packed into retail packages. The filling
machine is placed preferably directly below the lecithination unit with a hopper for
short intermediate storage to avoid any unnecessary transport.
As shown on the process diagram on Fig. 117 (the dotted line) the powder production
and lecithination can be made in one continuous process. In this case the powder trap
with lecithin nozzle is placed between the integrated fluid bed and the
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, Fig. 120. On this flow sheet reception, pretreatment, stand-
ardization and evaporation equipment are shown. The product quality can be com-
pared with the one achieved by the split process operation described above.
However, there are many reasons for preferring the split process operation, as retail
packing of milk powder is never a fully continuous operation, since there is always a
natural break between the powder production and the packing. During this break the
powder must be stored in bulk for one to several days, preferably in tote-bins to avoid
damage.
For quality reasons it is better to store unlecithinated powder. The lecithination pro-
cess therefore fits best as a part of the packing line forming one continuous operation.
The intermediate storage of the powder after production makes it possible to analyze
the product to classify it and to calculate the composition and quantity of wetting
agent in order to achieve the desired properties.
A further advantage of the split process operation is that fines created during storage
and transport can be blown off in the first VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ of the lecithination
unit.
- 239 -
Airdisperser SANICIPTM
with Nozzles Bag Filter
Air Exhaust
Nozzle
Fan
Cooling Air
Drying Air
Air Purge
Air Heater
Air Intake Hole Plate
Drying Chamber CIP Nozzles
Feed System
Concentrate Cone
Concentrate Heater Heating
Tanks
Supply Fan Air
Fines
Static Return
Fluid Bed Fluidized
Bottom
Air
SFB Air
High Pressure
Vibro-Fluidizer
Pump
- 240 -
Air Lecithin Unit
Fine Filter Air Fine Filters
Cooling
Fan
Sieve
Powder
Vibro-Fluidizer Air Supply System

CIP Plant Dryer
Fig. 120 Complete plant for production of instant whole milk powder (MSD™)
The quality of this rejected fines portion corresponds to ordinary (non-agglomerated)

whole milk powder, and can be sold as such. The amount is usually less than 5%.
Today, however, most instant whole milk is produced in MSD™ plants equipped with
a lecithin dosing equipment, placed between the integrated fluid bed and the
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, in one processing step, see Fig. 119. The final powder is con-
veyed to silos by lenient low speed vacuum conveying systems - being very gentle to
the agglomerated product - before packing either in retail packs or 25 kg bagging
lines. The conveying lines may be equipped with pre-gassing by N2/CO2 for prolong-
ing the shelf life.
Whey
The ever increasing attention to and understanding for pollution problems by the pub-
lic, as well as an intensive industrialization in the dairy industry by joining small pro-
duction units, have made the traditional outlet of whey, such as return to the milk
suppliers for cattle or pig feeding, as a fertilizer, or simply dumping it into the rivers
or drains, very problematic. In the recent years it has therefore been necessary to find
alternative uses for this product which has always been regarded as a waste product
and treated accordingly. However, the dry matter contains components of high nutri-
tive value and new techniques have made it possible to utilize these.
It is important that the whey is treated as a first class product, i.e. cooled and pro-
cessed within few hours, otherwise it will not be possible to produce a first class
product. Some of the processes are even impossible to perform, if the whey is of poor
quality.
The composition of fresh whey from a conventional cheese production is approx i-

mately as follows:
approx. % of dry matter

Water 94.25%
Protein 0.80% 13
Lactose 4.30% 75
Ash 0.55% 10
Fat 0.10% 2
However, it is well known that the above mentioned composition changes to a great
extent, depending on the type of cheese, use of different starter culture and different
rennet type. Further, the milk composition, either due to seasonal variations or breed
of cows, changes. This together with the fluctuating quantity available makes the
whey problems even more difficult to solve.
- 241 -
CHEESE PRODUCTION CHEESE PROCESSING
ß-GALACTOSIDASE
MILK UREA LACTOSYL UREA
FEED OR REACTOR
WASTE GLUCOSE GALACTOSE
WHEY
PERMEATE
F.B. DRYING SEPARATION ULTRAFILTRATION
EVAPORATION PROTEIN
LACTOSE
FERMENTATION
CRYSTALLIZATION
SEPARATION
FAT
SEPARATION
DESTILLATION
MOTHER LIQUOR ELECTRODIALYSIS
YEAST ALCOHOL
FAT
MOTHER LIQUOR POWDER CHEESE
SKIM MILK SINGLE CELL PROTEIN

NON-HYGROSCOPIC
WHEY PROTEIN
FAT ENRICHED
WHEY
WHEY
ELECTRODIALYSED PERMEATE
WHEY
Fig. 121 Various processes for whey treatment
- 242 -
Fig. 121 illustrates the various typical processes for treating whey. Furthermore, the
spray drying of skim milk for later reconstitution for cheese production, see page 315,
as well as spray drying of processed cheese, see page 321, are shown.
Dumping
Ever since the industrialization of cheese production, whey has in large amounts been
dumped into rivers, lakes or similar water reservoirs. However, as the whey contains
organic substances, oxygen is required for the decomposition, and dumping of whey
will therefore have a great influence on the environment. If the dumping is of such a
quantity that the decomposition requires all the oxygen available in the water, all life
will die followed by a putrefactive process. It is therefore obvious that the amount of
whey which can be dumped per hour depends on the amount of oxygen available
which is again determined by the amount of water per hour and its content of oxygen.
It is therefore difficult to state exact amounts of whey which may be dumped. In some
countries, Denmark for example, it is even forbidden to dump anything without a pre-
rinse in a special cleaning plant. As a guide, the degree of organic impurities in waste
water is expressed by the requirement for oxygen for biological decomposition in a 5
days' period, namely the so-called BOD5. Average waste water from households will
have a BOD5 of 300 mg oxygen per litre. With an average amount of 200 litres per
person per day it corresponds to 60 g oxygen, also known as a person equivalent. For
whey the BOD5 is approx. 60 g oxygen/litre, i.e. 1 litre of whey corresponds to 1 per-
son.
Instead of cleaning the whey in special cleaning plants some dairies have disposed of
large quantities of whey by spray-irrigating it over the fields, which is an effective
method giving benefit both to the factory and to the farmer. The amount of whey per
hectare depends on the pasture and the rainfall. The irrigation is usually done in a cy-
cle with 14 days between each doze, which means there should be plenty of land near
the cheese factory (but at least 200 m from nearest habitation). The amount which can
be sprayed is about 7 m 3/ha/day.
Utilization of Liquid Whey as Fodder
Whey has always been regarded as an acceptable fodder, mainly for pigs. However,
the fluctuating supply and solids content have made the direct use problematic.
- 243 -
- 244 -
Tests made in Denmark more than 100 years ago with feeding pigs concluded that:
 1 kg of skim milk could be replaced by 2 kg of whey

 1 kg of barley could be replaced by 12 kg of whey
Pigs of 50 kg or more can drink about 15 kg of whey per day.
However, the requirements to the quantity and quality of the bacon and the meat have
been intensified, and breeding has provided pigs able to utilize a greater amount of
protein from the food, which means that if the pigs should have whey as the only pro-
tein source, the amount of water from the whey would cause problems in the way of
digestion. In order to meet these problems a mixture of whey and skim milk (50/50)
has been used, either direct or evaporated to 20% TS.
Whey used for sows has proved to be a good idea, partly because they have a great
need for liquids (15-25 kg/day), partly because of a great need for vitamin B, and
whey contains a great amount of especially B 2 (riboflavin) and pantothenic acid.
For cattle feeding liquid whey has also proved to be valuable, however, when 2-4
months old a mixture of skim milk and whey is recommendable, and not until the calf
is 4 months old, can it manage pure whey in an amount of 10-15 kg/day. It will be
profitable to use liquid whey until they are 15 months old, as it can replace a great
amount of concentrates or skim milk. It has even been proved that fatted calves had
bigger daily growth, and the bodies and the yield were much better than for fatted
calves fed on the same amount of feed units in the form of skim milk.
From the above it can be seen that liquid whey can easily be used for feeding pigs and
calves. However, due to the big quantities needed and the way the whey has been
treated at the consumer's place (very often the whey is days old, fermented and there-
fore contains by-products leading to malnutrition), the use of liquid whey is not so at-
tractive, especially in large stock holds.
Consequently, the factories are very often taking advantage of spray drying the whey
thus transforming it into a powder. This means that the keeping quality of the whey is
prolonged, the solids content of the dried product is constant, and seasonal variations
in the supply are avoided.
Production of Whey Powder from Traditional Cheese Production
Prior to the drying, the whey is preconcentrated which removes about 90% of the wa-
ter. This is carried out in a multi-effect falling film evaporator with vapour recom-
pression in order to save steam. Apart from the actual evaporating calandrias the
evaporator is equipped with preheaters for heating the whey by means of vapour be-
fore it is finally pasteurized by means of live steam, either direct or indirect.
- 245 -
Fig. 122 Preservation of whey with formaldehyde and peroxide
- 246 -
The evaporated whey is pumped either to crystallization tanks or direct to the spray
dryer by a pump with variable speed. The spray dryer may be with either pneumatic
conveying or fluid beds for after-drying and cooling.
The pretreatment prior to evaporation is as follows: The raw fresh whey should be
cooled to 5-10C immediately after it is drained off the cheese vat in order to avoid
bacterial decomposition with a troublesome drying as a result. Preservation of the
cooled raw whey is possible with H 2O2 or formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is better, see
Fig. 122. Further the presence of H 2O2 will result in a significant pitting corrosion of
the impellers in the pumps of the evaporator.
It is advisable to clarify the whey in order to remove casein micelles, which will burn
and stick to the evaporator tubes and result in discoloured particles in the final po w-
der. The remaining fat in the whey should also be removed by the separation, as fat
may tend to give deposits in the drying chamber.
The whey will typically correspond to the following specification:
- Sediment test: max. 0.1 mg/25 ml

- pH: min. 6.3
- Titratable acidity: max. 0.12%
- True lactic acid: max. 20 mg/100 ml
- Lactose content: min. 70%, max. 74%
- Protein content: min. 12%
- Calcium content: max. 300 ppm
- Magnesium content: max. 100 ppm
- Chloride content: max. 1,200 ppm
When the whey is stored between the cheese factory and the evaporation process at a
temperature exceeding 10C, then the storage time should not exceed one hour. If the
storage temperature is below 10C, then the storage time should not exceed ten hours.
Evaporation
In the evaporator the whey is preheated to 60-70C (depending on the running condi-
tions) after which it is pasteurized. By means of the temperature and holding time
combination it is possible to control the degree of denaturation of the proteins, and
thus it is possible to produce powders meeting specific requirements.
Generally speaking the viscosity of the whey concentrate increases and the non-caking
properties become better by increasing the pasteurizing temperature/time. The whey is
evaporated to a solids content suitable for the subsequent spray drying process and
- 247 -
Fig. 123 Evaporation ratio: C as a function of mass-flow and

evaporation capacity
Fig. 124 Preconcentration of whey prior to transport to

centrally placed drying installation
- 248 -
may vary from 40% to 60% solids. As the raw whey contains only 6% solids, it means
that e = 10 (see Formula (2) on page 17). The evaporator must therefore be equipped
with feed flow control and density control, since even small variations will result in
tremendous fluctuations in the solids content of the concentrate. See diagram Fig. 123.
Special attention should also be paid to Ca++ content in the whey. Ca-phosphate is a
salt, which will precipitate, if the concentration and temperature increase. Especially,
it may present a problem in the first effect and form deposits on the tubes, if not re-
moved in a decalcification process, see page 275. Alternatively, an intermediate acid
wash after 6-8 hours is required.
Since raw whey contains less solids than skim milk, it will in an evaporator designed
for skim milk result in less concentrate, as the evaporation capacity is practically the
same. This may have the effect that a good coverage of the tubes in the last stage can
no longer be achieved, and recycling or splitting is necessary.
Removing part of the water from the whey in a hyperfiltration plant to 10-15% solids
may also be done to increase the output from the evaporator.
A pre-evaporation may also be done, if it is impossible to obtain sufficient whey

(>400,000 l/day) to make the whey powder production profitable. Small dairies may
then pre-evaporate their whey in an evaporator to approx. 30% solids, cool it and
transport the concentrate to a factory centrally located. The transport costs are thereby
reduced. The pre-condensed whey may then be mixed with raw whey from the facto-
ry's own production, after which the final evaporation takes place followed by the
spray drying, see Fig. 124. It is well known that it is cheaper to remove water in an
evaporator than in a spray dryer (about 1:20), and it is thus not astonishing that the ef-
forts in the development work have been concentrated on increasing the solids content
from the evaporator. The outlet temperature of the spray dryer must be increased
(about 1C/1% TS), which means that the powder temperature will get into the stick-
ing point temperature zone resulting in severe problems in the dryer such as wall de-
posits and blocked cyclones.
The sticking point temperature depends on the composition of the whey powder and
mainly on the following components:
 Lactic acid content and salts

 Amorphous lactose content
 Moisture content
Lactic Acid Content

It has been found that the sticking point temperature of one particular sweet whey
powder sample was 98C. By gradual addition of lactic acid up to 16% the sticking
point temperature decreased linearly down to 57C. (The samples had a moisture con-
tent of 1.5-3.5% which also influences the sticking point temperature, however, not to
- 249 -
Fig. 125 Relationship between the moisture content, air temperature,

particle temperature and the sticking point temperature
- 250 -
such a great extent). Partial or complete neutralization shifts the sticking point tem-
perature up again, however, not up to the same level as that of sweet whey due to the
increased content of salts.
Amorphous Lactose Content

The conversion of amorphous lactose into -lactose monohydrate by crystallization
(see page 253) results in a rise in the sticking point temperature. It has been found that
a whey powder with 80% crystallized lactose had a sticking point of 78C, while the
same product, but precrystallized to only 45%, had a sticking point temperature of
60C. This allows for an increase in the solids content of approx. 18%, if the concen-
trate is properly pre-crystallized leaving only a small part of amorphous lactose in the
final powder.
Moisture Content
The moisture content of whey powder - also the intermediate moisture content of the
semi-dried product as found in the spray dryer between atomization and powder out-
let - has a considerable influence on the sticking point. The graph in Fig. 125 shows
the relation between the outlet temperature (t o) and the sticking temperature (t s). When
keeping other parameters constant it is obvious that the powder moisture depends on
the outlet temperature. The temperature of the product particles in the spray dryer is
lower than the outlet temperature, and this difference in temperature increases by i n-
creasing moisture content. The line (t s) shows the sticking point temperature of a par-
ticular whey powder as influenced by the moisture content. This line crosses the prod-
uct temperature line at a point (T pc) which represents the maximum (critical) moisture
content - and at the same time the minimum (critical) outlet temperature (T oc) that
may be used for drying this particular whey concentrate without having trouble with
sticking.
It may be seen that an outlet temperature of 90C, giving a product temperature of

about 82.5C and a moisture content of 3%, corresponds to a sticking point of 84.5C.
So under these conditions the dryer is running with a safety margin of 2C below the
sticking point, corresponding to about 0.2% moisture.
However, the conditions may vary somewhat during the run causing the product tem-
perature to rise above the sticking point. This would for example happen under the
following conditions:
 The outlet temperature drops by 2C

 The feed concentration increases by 1%
 The absolute humidity of the inlet drying air increases by about 5 g/m 3
 The acidity of the processed whey increases by about 0.02% lactic acid
The above example is valid for one type of sweet whey when running at an inlet tem-
perature of 180C and with a feed concentration of 44% straight from the evaporator
- 251 -
Fig. 126 Lactose molecule in α and β configuration
Fig. 127 Mutarotation Fig. 128 Transformation of β lactose to α in 1 hour

(expressed in % of obtainable
transformation to the equilibrium)
- 252 -
with no pre-crystallization. These conditions are quite common for sweet whey with-
out pre-crystallization.
Crystallization of Whey Concentrate
Pre-crystallization of the concentrate shifts the sticking temperature upwards, as the

crystallization yields a concentrate with much less amorphous lactose to be dried. It is
thus possible to use considerably higher feed concentrations and inlet temperatures.
In order to understand the theoretic background for the crystallization process it is

necessary to look into the physico-chemical properties of the lactose which form
about 3/4 of the solids of the whey.
Lactose is a disaccharide quite different in its behaviour from other common sugars. A
distinctive feature of the lactose is its appearance in different modifications with phys-
ico-chemical interrelations determined by the temperature.
In an aqueous solution the lactose molecule is present in an  and a  form as shown

in Fig. 126.
The  and  forms are in a reversible equilibrium, i.e. there is a continuous transfor-
mation of the  form into the  form and vice-versa, called mutarotation, see Fig. 127.
The proportion of the  form to the  form is determined by the temperature, see
Fig. 128.
In whey powder produced according to the process described above with a pneumatic
conveying system, the lactose is present in an amorphous or glassy state. This form of
lactose is extremely hygroscopic absorbing water from the air forming -lactose mon-
ohydrate.
The -lactose monohydrate, which is not hygroscopic, is also formed in liquid whey
concentrates by crystallization of the lactose from supersaturated solutions. As the
 form is less soluble than the  form at a given temperature, the  form reaches the
point of supersaturation first and forms crystals of -lactose monohydrate. In Fig. 129
the dissolving properties of  and  lactose are shown in relation to the temperature.
The removal of -lactose from the solution due to the crystallization means that the
proportion between - and -lactose changes, so that the solution contains more -
lactose than corresponding to the equilibrium.
Due to the mutarotation the solution of -lactose becomes again supersaturated, so

that the crystallization continues. This process will continue as long as the solution is
supersaturated and will not stop until the saturation point is reached.
- 253 -
Fig. 129 Solubility of α and β lactose in water at different temperatures
- 254 -
Lactose can be supersaturated by:
 Increasing the content of lactose in relation to water content. This is done by

evaporation.
 Cooling the solution as lactose becomes less soluble in water at lower tempera-
tures.
A rich crystallization is therefore achieved by concentrating the whey to a solids con-

tent as high as possible and by cooling the concentrate.
The rate of mutarotation is directly influenced by the temperature of the solution, and
as it appears from Fig. 128 it proceeds relatively fast at high temperatures, whereas it
goes very slowly at temperatures near the freezing point. It is thus clear that the condi-
tions promoting mutarotation and crystallization are conflicting.
This means that by cooling the concentrate too fast to a too low temperature the pro-
portion of lactose which will crystallize will be low, even though the crystallization
proceeds quickly. This is due to the slow mutarotation resulting in only a small
amount of -lactose being transformed into -lactose.
A temperature compromise is therefore necessary to obtain an optimal degree of crys-

tallization.
The actual obtainable solids content depends on the type of whey, degree of denatura-
tion of the whey proteins, pH of the whey, and the ability of the evaporator.
Although the crystallization process is not fully understood, it is a well-known fact

that the crystallization takes place on the surface of already existing crystals. In order
to promote the crystallization, lactose crystals or well crystallized whey powder is
seeded to the supersaturated solution. As the surface area of the seeding material is the
important factor, a sufficient amount of small crystals should be added to the concen-
trate. If lactose crystals (-lactose monohydrate) are used, approx. 0.1% w/w should
be added to the concentrate.
Cooling of the concentrate is done instantaneously to 30C in a flash cooler (see page
59) connected to the evaporator after which it is cooled slowly (1-3C/h) to about
15C in specially designed crystallization tanks, see Fig. 130. This may allow the mu-
tarotation to proceed at a reasonable speed resulting in a rich crystallization of about
80% of the lactose. During the whole crystallization time it is of significant im-
portance that the content of the crystallization tank be vigorously agitated continuous-
ly. This is done in order to transport supersaturated solution to the surface of the crys-
tals, simultaneously replacing the saturated solution. The agitation also prevents the
viscosity of the thixotropic suspension from getting too high, and furthermore sedi-
mentation of the lactose crystals does not take place.
- 255 -
Fig. 130 Whey crystallization tanks
Fig. 131 Viscosity development during the crystallization of

whey concentrate
- 256 -
The viscosity of the crystallized whey concentrate is mainly influenced by:
 Heat treatment before the evaporation

 Solids content of the concentrate
 Size of the lactose crystals
Heat Treatment before the Evaporation

The degree of denaturation of the whey proteins has a great influence on the viscosity
of the concentrate as well as on the rate of crystallization, the drying properties, and
the final powder properties. The properties of the proteins may also vary in different
types of whey, and consequently they may require different heat treatment.
As a guide line, the preheating temperature should be in a narrow range of 80C.

Higher preheating temperature normally results in higher viscosity, and problems with
pumping of the crystallized concentrate may occur. Lower temperature than 80C will
decrease the viscosity, but at the same time problems with deposits in the drying
chamber may occur due to an increased thermo-plasticity calling for higher parti-
cle/outlet temperature with an inferior product as a result.
It is thus a general rule that the preheating temperature is kept at such a level that the
viscosity is about 2000 cP.
Solids Content of the Concentrate

It goes without saying that the higher solids content the higher viscosity in the concen-
trate, but also during the crystallization the viscosity undergoes deep changes, partly
due to the decrease in temperature, but also due to the crystallization itself.
Size of the Lactose Crystals

A typical development of the viscosity during the crystallization is shown in Fig. 131.
The maximum viscosity at the time t 0 max. for a given amount of concentrate is
reached after a short time (½-1 hour) and may go as high as several thousand cP. The
reason is that the size of the lactose crystals is very small (big specific surface) and
their mother liquor solution still has a relatively high solids content, which means that
the friction between the crystals and the mother liquor is big. As time passes the lac-
tose crystals grow, and the solids content of the mother liquor solution decreases re-
sulting in a decrease of the viscosity.
The viscosity at t0 max. may be so high that agitation is no longer possible. However,
at the time ti non-crystallized concentrate with low viscosity is pumped into the crys-
tallization tank, and thereby the content of the tank is "diluted" in the way of viscosi-
ty.
The curve to-n is therefore the interesting one, and under normal conditions the vis-
cosity does not present any problems, provided the heat treatment is controlled. The
- 257 -
Fig. 132 Lactose crystallization of whey concentrate
Fig. 133 Evaporator, two flash coolers with crystallization tanks, and a
compact dryer for continuous production of semi-crystallized
whey powder
- 258 -
crystal size aimed at in the concentrate is 20-30 and the biggest crystal should not
exceed 50. This in order to ensure that all spray particles contain at least one lactose-
crystal enabling a further crystallization to proceed during the final drying. This is
possible as the mother liquor solution again becomes supersaturated due to the evapo-
ration.
Under normal conditions it is possible to obtain 80-90% crystallization of the lactose.

This may be determined in a very simple way by using an ordinary hand refractometer
which gives the refractive index or direct % of sugar in solution.
The refractive index or direct % of sugar is measured at short intervals of 15-30 min.
direct from the evaporator, and the average arithmetical value is calculated = S 1. In an
average sample of the crystallized whey concentrate a second refractometric reading is
made = S2. The degree of crystallization will with a good approximation be:
(S1 - S2) x 9500 x 100

% Crystallization = (27)
L x TS x (95 - S2)
where:
S1 = % sugar (ref. index) of the concentrate direct from the evaporator.

S2 = % sugar (ref. index) of the crystallized concentrate
L = % lactose (74% may be used)
TS = total solids content in %
Semi-Crystallization of Whey Concentrate
As it can be seen from Fig. 132, the majority of the lactose is crystallized after 3-4
hours. A continuous semi-crystallization process has therefore been developed. The
resulting powder exhibits good physical properties.
The whey is precondensed to 50-52% solids, after which it is flash-cooled to 30C.

The concentrate is pumped to an ordinary single-walled tank equipped with an agita-
tor. The volume of the tank corresponds to 2-3 hours production. The concentrate is
seeded as described above in order to start the crystallization.
When the tank is full the product is discharged at the same speed as new product is
pumped in. The semi-crystallized concentrate is pumped to flash cooler No. 2 where it
is cooled to 15C and pumped to a new tank with a volume corresponding to 2-3
hours in order to finish the crystallization. Because of the heat created by the crystall i-
zation, the temperature will increase by 2-3C. When the tank is full the spray drying
is started. See Fig. 133.
- 259 -
- 260 -
Fig. 134 Evaporator, crystallization tanks, and spray dryer with
pneumatic conveying system
Spray Drying of Whey Concentrates

The spray drying may be performed according to three different processes, depending
on the requirements to the final powder:
 Spray drying by the pneumatic conveying process
 Spray drying by the fluid bed process
 Spray drying by the belt process
Spray Drying by the Pneumatic Conveying Process

In this process the whey concentrate is fed to the atomization device, which may ei-
ther be of the pressure nozzle type or a rotary atomizer. As earlier described the drying
is effected by introduction of hot air through the air disperser into the drying chamber.
The air takes up the evaporated water from the concentrate and then passes through
the cyclones where the powder particles carried along are separated.
The main part of the powder particles is discharged from the conical bottom of the
chamber. Here it is fed to the pneumatic conveying and cooling system, which also
collects the above mentioned cyclone fraction.
The total amount of powder is separated in a cyclone, the powder is sifted and bagged
off.
This type of plant is shown in Fig. 134 and comprises a falling-film evaporator and a
spray drying plant with pneumatic conveying system. The powder from such a plant
has the following characteristics:
 consists of individual particles
 tends to develop dust
 high bulk density
 high hygroscopicity and tendency to cake
This kind of powder is mainly used as animal fodder. The hygroscopic tendency is due
to the lactose in the powder being in the so-called amorphous stage which means wa-
ter absorbing and sticky. The outlet temperature and content of residual moisture must
therefore be kept low. This means also that the solids content must be kept low. The
conditions for this process are usually the following:
 Pasteurization at 80C
 Evaporation to 42% solids
 Drying at a temperature of 180C
Spray drying of precrystallized whey concentrate can be performed under much more
economical conditions, as the drying temperature and the solids content can be in-
creased. The total drying costs can thus be reduced. As most of the lactose is crystal-
- 261 -
- 262 -
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
lized, and therefore can absorb very little water, the powder will be of a much better
quality, because the caking tendency has been reduced.
Typical processing conditions are as follows:
 Evaporation to 50-55% solids
 Crystallization
 Drying at a temperature of 180-200C
Spray Drying by the Fluid Bed Process

Installation of static integrated fluid beds and/or VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ for after-
drying and cooling will improve the drying economy. The principle is that the spray
dryer is operated in such a way that the powder is dried to a moisture content of 5-6%
in the primary drying stage.
The excess moisture is removed in the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ by a hot air stream dry-
ing the powder to the final moisture content. By introducing cold air to a later section
of the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, the powder is cooled to the wanted temperature. The
air used for the after-drying and cooling is passed through a cyclone where the powder
carried along with the air is recovered and returned, together with the main cyclone
fraction, to the atomizer for agglomeration. The agglomeration means that the powder
will be free-flowing and the specific surface reduced, so that any moisture absorption
is further reduced resulting in a powder with practically no caking tendency.
In Fig. 135 a flow sheet of the non-caking whey process is shown, including evapora-
tor, crystallization tanks and spray dryer with static fluid bed and
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. Typical drying conditions are:
 Evaporation to 50-60% solids
 Crystallization
Spray Drying by the Belt Process

Another process is the so-called belt process, or wet process, which is especially ad-
vantageous when powders with very good caking/hygroscopic properties are required
(see also Drying of Permeate, page 273), or when drying lactic acid whey which is
very thermoplastic, due to the high content of lactic acid being liquid in dry form,
even at low temperature. Lactic acid whey powder is tremendously sticky during the
spray drying process. A low drying/particle temperature is therefore necessary in order
to avoid chamber deposits. Typical drying conditions are:
 Evaporation to 50% solids
- 263 -
Fig. 136 Spray dryer with belt for after-crystallization
- 264 -
Crystallization
 Moisture content ex chamber 12-15%
In order to avoid condensation in the cyclones, due to a low outlet temperature (ap-
prox. 55C), hot air may be introduced into the cyclones thus reducing the relative
humidity.
Bag filters - standard or CIP-able - are not recommended due to the high mois-
ture/relative humidity in the exhaust air. Wet scrubbers are therefore recommended.
The high moisture content in the powder means that the crystallization will continue
in the powder to an even greater extent than in the process featuring fluid beds only,
as discussed on page 263. This crystallization is improved, if the wet powder is kept
at the high moisture content for 5-10 min. This is done on a belt conveyor or a rotat-
ing disc between the chamber outlet and the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, where the final
drying takes place, see Fig. 136. The powder will consist of big agglomerates which
will have a low bulk density and extremely good instant and non-caking properties.
The bulk density may be increased by a hammer mill treatment.
Spray Drying of High Concentrated Whey Concentrate

In an attempt to improve drying economy, the solids content in the concentrate has
been experimentally increased up to 70-75% TS. To avoid crystallization in the last
effect, as the lactose becomes supersaturated, the evaporator is equipped with a spe-
cially designed high concentrator operating with recycling and at a higher boiling
temperature. Further, the higher temperature is necessary to lower the viscosity of the
concentrate to avoid blocked tubes.
When the concentrate has reached its final solids content, it is flash cooled, and the
crystallization takes place instantaneously. Normal crystallization tanks are not neces-
sary, only an intermediate tank with agitation. However, the high temperature during
the long recycling time in the evaporator has its price. The whey proteins are dena-
tured, and valuable nutritional values are lost. Further, the Maillard reaction will start
resulting in a pronounced discolouring and bad flavour in the final powder. Therefore,
even though the economy is attractive the end result - the final powder - does not meet
international standards.
Production of Acid Whey Powder
Not all whey originates from traditional cheese production giving sweet whey with a
pH of min. 6.3. Cottage cheese, quark, Fromage Frais, Queso Fresco, Mozzarella, or
similar products give whey with a pH of 4.6 due to the precipitation of the milk.
- 265 -
- 266 -
Lactic acid is very hygroscopic and thermoplastic and thus very difficult to dry. Neu-
tralization can be necessary (to a pH of 5.2-5.5), and the following neutralizing agents
can be used:
 Mg(OH)2 forms Mg-lactate which is a "dry" salt and preferred by the end-users,
as it does not result in dark colouring of the meat of the animals, typically
calves, eating the product.
++
 Ca(OH)2 is also usable, but as the content of Ca is already high in the acid
whey, the animals may get digestive problems.
 NaOH is sometimes used, but is not recommendable, as Na-lactate is hygroscop-

ic and thermoplastic. Further it discolours the meat from the animals fed with
the product.
Acid whey from acidification by mineral acids like HCl or H 2SO4 need not be neutral-
ized, but special precautions should be taken in the selection of the stainless steel used
for the fabrication of the evaporator and spray dryer, as corrosion is a problem, espe-
-
cially due to the Cl ions.
Generally speaking, acid whey is more difficult to dry than sweet whey, and addition
of 0.1-0.3% free-flowing agent such as Tixosil is recommended during the drying op-
eration.
Whey with Fat
The addition of fat to the whey concentrate prior to the drying is used. 26 to 50% of
the dry matter is normal. This product is then used directly or in a dry-mixing opera-
tion to make different calf milk replacers. The fat used is mainly of a cheap sort such
as lard or tallow. Precautions against the presence of polyunsaturated fat acids should
be taken by addition of antioxidants to prevent fires in the dryer.
Wall deposits can be avoided to a great extent by introducing warm air at 60C tan-
gentially into the drying chamber at the cylindrical part of the chamber. The amount
of air to be used is about 5-10% of the amount of drying air.
40% fat-enriched whey powders have proved to dominate the market. The most suita-
ble plant for this product is the Compact dryer, discussed on page 144, and below are
the recommended technological processing steps:
1. Sweet whey of good quality with normal content of whey proteins should be
used, i.e. casein whey is not recommended, as the whey protein content is low
resulting in high free fat levels and fat emulsion stability.
- 267 -
- 268 -
Fig. 137 Processing of fat-enriched whey powder
The pH should not be lower than 6.3-6.4 in the raw whey. It is possible to neu-
tralize with Mg(OH)2 to improve the fat emulsion stability, and to stabilize es-
pecially salts of citrates, phosphates and lactates. The whey proteins should not
be hydrolysed and a good indication is max. 150 NH 4+/100 g solids.
The lower pH in the raw whey, the more neutralizing agent, and the more diffi-
cult the drying. Powder of inferior quality is the end result.
2. Immediately after the cheese process the whey must be pasteurized at 72C for
15 sec. and cooled to 4-5C for storage.
3. Pasteurization to 80C, no holding, before evaporation to 50% solids and flash-

cooling to 30C.
4. Cooling to 25C during 5 hours (1C/h) in crystallization tanks.
5. Addition of sodium hexametaphosphate or sodium polyphosphate to bind Ca ++

ions.
6. Mixing fat and 1-3% emulsifiers at 60-70C.
7. Mixing fat/emulsifier with the whey concentrate.
8. In-line heating by means of a concentrate pre-heat exchanger to 65C. The hold-

ing time of the concentrate at this temperature should be as short as possible to
avoid melting of the lactose crystals.
9. Two-stage homogenizing at 80/50 bar g.
10. Spray drying, preferably with CIP-able bag filter to avoid problems with blocked
cyclones.
11. During spray drying addition of free-flowing agent.
12. Cooling in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ and bagging-off.
See Fig. 137.
For 50% fat in whey the Multi-Stage Dryer (MSD™) with CIP-able bag filter is rec-
ommended (see page 148) due to its special design, where the concentrate is sprayed
onto the fluidized powder layer to avoid excessive powder deposits in the plant. For
higher fat contents the product becomes too difficult to dry due to severe powder de-
posits in traditional spray dryers. The integrated belt dryer, type FILTERMAT™
(FMD), see Fig. 138, is therefore chosen. In this plant the concentrate is sprayed
downwards onto a slowly moving belt on which the powder accumulates as a layer
(mat) of powder, which is continuously being conveyed out of the drying zone into the
after-drying and cooling zone. The process air (primary drying, secondary drying, and
cooling) is exhausted through the powder mat and the belt (consisting of a porous syn-
thetic food-
- 269 -
Fig. 138 Integrated belt dryer Type FILTERMAT™ (FMD)
- 270 -
grade material) and through a cyclone. The amount of powder entrained in the air
from the drying chamber is very low. The cyclone is, therefore, equipped with a buck-
et for manual emptying of the fines powder.
The use of whey powder with or without fat is extensive. However, the biggest part is
used as animal fodder either direct (up to 50% of the total food) or as an ingredient in
a final-formulated mix.
Mother Liquor
In lactose production the remaining product after separation of the lactose crystals,
usually by decanting (see page 281), is called mother liquor. As it usually contains 1/3
protein, 1/3 lactose solution/crystals, and 1/3 salts, it is difficult to dry, as the salts and
lactose make it very hygroscopic, and deposits in the chamber are therefore normally
seen.
It is, however, possible to apply the same technique as earlier described, introducing
warm air at 60C tangentially into the drying chamber, whereby the mentioned prob-
lems can be minimized. The integrated fluid bed dryers will also be advantageous for
this product. Fats of various types can also be added to the mother liquor prior to the
drying. Cooling of the powder is then performed in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ into
which cold air is applied. Dried mother liquor is used as stock food and is speciall y
suited for animals that cannot utilize the lactose such as poultry.
Special attention should however be paid to the high salt content, which may lead to
troublesome digestion for some animals. Another thing is the absence of the aminoac-
id Methionine which is only present in whey proteins in a limited amount. Synthetic
Methionine (or fishmeal or soy proteins) should be added.
Whey Proteins (WPC)
As discussed in the previous chapter whey contains about 0.8% protein corresponding
to 13% of the dry matter. These proteins are known as serum proteins or whey pro-
teins. As the nutritive value is considered very high, and as human milk contains more
whey proteins than cow's milk, numerous attempts have been made to separate these
proteins from the whey, especially for use in baby food powders.
The most accepted and widely used process is ultrafiltration. This process is however
considered well-known to the readers and is therefore not discussed here.
The solids content and the composition of the concentrate also known as retentate
from the ultrafiltration can be varied to meet special requirements in the final product.
- 271 -
Fig. 139 Solubility of the final WPC product as a function of the air
outlet temperature from the spray dryer
Fig. 140 TALL FORM DRYER™ for whey protein products (TFD)
- 272 -
Commercially, whey proteins are available with three different protein contents: 35%
WPC, 60% WPC, and 80% WPC.
If 100 kg of normal sweet whey with 6% solids is used, then approx. 20 kg of 35%
WPC is discharged from the ultrafiltration module with a solids content of about 10%,
which is increased by evaporation to 45% before the spray drying. Approx. 8 kg of
60% WPC is discharged with a solids content of about 15%, evaporated to 42% be-
fore the spray drying. High protein concentration results in high viscosity, and it is
necessary to add water (diafiltration) during the final filtration, if 80% WPC is pro-
duced. 3 kg of 80% WPC is discharged with a solids content of about 28-30%. Due to
the high protein content it is dried directly.
Whey protein concentrates can be used direct, together with ordinary milk concen-
trates, in formulas for baby food thus obtaining a product with a composition similar
to mother's milk.
The whey protein concentrates can also be used in the production of cream cheese or
other soft type cheeses or as filler (water binder) in sausages replacing the meat.
The drying of whey protein concentrates is easy, but to maintain a good solubility of
the product, it is essential to use low outlet air temperatures to avoid denaturation, see
Fig. 139. Two-stage drying is therefore recommended.
As the solids content of the concentrate is low due to the high protein content, the
spray drying plants are always equipped with bag filters after the cyclones. However,
as the filter fraction may not always have the same quality as the main product, the
TALL FORM DRYER™ is often selected, as the special air outlet minimizes the cy-
clone fraction and consequently also the filter fraction. See page 75 and Fig. 140.
The tendency today is to produce agglomerated instant whey proteins. Due to the lack
of lactose as binder, especially in 80% WPC, the agglomeration is difficult. However,
by selecting the Multi-Stage Dryer (MSD™), see page 148, Fig. 85, it is possible to
obtain a sufficient agglomeration. As the proteins are very hydrophilic, they will ab-
sorb water instantaneously at their first contact with water, which makes the disper-
sion difficult. By agglomeration and lecithination the water absorption is delayed just
sufficiently to allow the powder to be dispersed in the water before the final dissol u-
tion.
The powder has the same applications as the concentrates, but does have the supreme
advantage of an almost infinite keeping quality.
Permeate
The other product from the ultrafiltration is the permeate, usually containing about
4.5% lactose. The permeate can be used for fermenting, production of glucose-
galactose or lactylurea, or concentrated, crystallized and then dried.
- 273 -
Dryer
Crystallization
- 274 -
Evaporator
Fig. 140a COMPACT DRYER™ for permeate – Dry process

The concentration can be done either in a hyperfiltration plant and an evaporator, or in

an evaporator alone to 60% solids. Special attention should however be paid to the
Ca3(PO4)2 complex, as it is a well-known fact that it will precipitate at high tempera-
tures, especially if the concentration is high and the pH is right.
If the Ca++ is not inactivated, the precipitation will occur as deposits on the heat sur-
face in the evaporator, especially in the first effect. It is therefore necessary to make
an intermediate cleaning of the evaporator after 6-8 hours with acid.
In the industry the Ca-phosphate is precipitated in the whey/permeate by adjusting the

pH to 7.2 by addition of caustic (Mg(OH)2 or NaOH, see also page 269), after which
the product is heated to 80C. The precipitated Ca-phosphate can then be removed
by centrifugation or membrane filtration. The discharged product can be dried and
sold as "milk calcium".
After the decalcium process the product can be evaporated and dried directly, but it is
recommended to "neutralize" it by adding citric or acetic acid, as it will otherwise
give problems with deposits in the drying chamber.
It is not possible to dry this concentrate direct due to the hygroscopic tendency of the
resulting powder, and crystallization is necessary. This is carried out exactly as de-
scribed under the crystallization of whey concentrate, and also the drying is equal to
the drying of whey. However, three different spray drying processes should be men-
tioned:
1. The Dry Process
2. The Wet Process
3. The TIXOTHERM™ Process
Dry Process
In the so-called "dry process" the precrystallized permeate concentrate is dried in a
COMPACT DRYER™ (see Fig. 140a). Rotary atomization is preferred, as the atom-
izer wheel offers the best alternative, as it can handle products containing crystals
without wear. Further rotary atomization is ideal for concentrates with high viscosity.
The moisture content in the integrated fluid bed, however, is too low (5% free mois-
ture) to allow for further crystallization of the lactose. The mobility of water needed to
form lactose crystals is simply not present. Higher moisture content in the powder in
the fluid bed, needed for the crystallization to proceed (made possible because of the
supersaturation of the lactose during the drying process) will make the fluidization of
the powder in the fluid bed impossible, and any attempt to make it happen will result
in drying out of the water, so that a post-crystallization will not take place.
- 275 -
Dryer
Crystallization
Evaporator
- 276 -
Fig. 140b TALL FORM DRYER™ for permeate – Wet process
However, the resulting powder will exhibit normal good hygroscopic and caking
tendencies, and the drying economy will be acceptable. As always, focus has to be on
powder emission. Cyclones can be used followed by wet scrubbers using water as
scrubbing medium, or normal bag filters. Due to the relative low moisture content in
the exhaust air, needed for the process to work at all, it can also be passed through a
CIP-able bag filter (see page 111). All powder will thereby be collected as first-grade
powder, and powder emission is avoided.
Wet Process
As permeate powder is used throughout the world, also in countries where the climate
is humid, the powder will absorb moisture from the ambient, if the lactose is not total-
ly crystallized. As explained under the "dry process" the lactose cannot reach a 100%
crystallization due to lack of "mobile water" during the process. The remaining amor-
phous lactose will therefore absorb moisture from the air, when the bag is opened, if
the ambient air has a high enough moisture content. The powder will cake, and lump-
ing will be the result leaving an unattractive product to the end-user.
The belt or wet process for whey powder, as described on page 263, is therefore often
applied to permeate as well. The permeate is evaporated in a multi-stage evaporator,
preferably including a calcium phosphate precipitation/separation process to allow for
a 20 h run without intermediate cleaning (see page 249). Typically the concentrate
reaches a 60-65% TS before flash cooling to 30C followed by further cooling and
crystallization in crystallization tanks during 16-24 hours before spray drying.
The actual drying is typically done in a Tall-Form spray drying plant using inlet tem-
peratures of 150-160C, depending on ambient conditions and an outlet temperature
of 55C, close to the dew point (read high moisture content) of the outlet air. The
low outlet air temperature results in a moisture content in the powder leaving the dry-
ing chamber as high as 8-10%. The moist and relatively cold powder is discharged on-
to a slowly moving timing belt or disc with a residence time of 10-20 min.
As the concentrate with the saturated lactose solution is dried, it becomes supersatu-
rated again; however, the lactose will not crystallize during the spray drying process.
The time is simply too short, but as the powder is discharged onto the timing belt at a
high moisture content, the relative cold powder with supersaturated lactose will start
to crystallize, as there is enough "mobile water" and time for the crystallization pro-
cess to proceed.
When the powder has been finally crystallized on the belt or the disc, it is discharged
into a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ for final drying and cooling.
The exhaust air at 55C from the drying chamber contains a high moisture content in
g H2O/kg dry air. Special attention should therefore be paid to the exhaust system.
- 277 -
- 278 -
Fig. 140c The TIXOTHERM™ Process
Air exhaust through cyclones and wet scrubbers is an alternative often used, depending on
type of dryer, especially the air extraction design. However, special attention should still
be paid to the powder extraction from the cyclones, as the moist fines particles are sticky,
and normal rotary valves will not work. Venturis with a positive air/powder extraction at
the base of the cyclone should therefore be established. The exhaust air can also be passed
through a CIP-able bag filter, provided the dryer design is so that the fines amount can be
controlled to avoid clogging of the filter bags.
Even though it has been argued earlier that products with crystals are best atomized by a
rotary atomizer, a dryer with nozzles is chosen for the "wet process", see Fig. 140b. This is
because the wet permeate powder is very sticky, and any obstructions to the air/powder
movement in a traditional drying chamber with the air exhaust duct protruding into the
chamber will result in powder deposits. The laminar downward air flow in the dryer com-
bined with nozzle atomization is therefore chosen at the cost of nozzle wear.
TIXOTHERM™ Process
Realizing that the price for permeate powder is low many attempts have been made to
develop a process involving low investment, low energy consumption and reduced
space requirements.
The TIXOTHERM™ process, developed by GEA Niro (patented) offers these ad-
vantages, however, it has only been tested on a pilot plant, but industrial size plants
are already being designed. See Fig. 140c.
The process is simple and requires the following equipment:
Evaporator: (increasing the solids content from 6% to 60% - no flash cooling and pre-
crystallization)
TVR Multi-effect or MVR solutions can be chosen. To ensure 20 h production a

decalcification process should be included.
Paddle Dryer/Evaporator: (increasing the solids content to 85%).
Here a ROSINAIRE™ paddle dryer is selected. It consists of a double jacketed

horizontal tube heated by means of steam. A shaft in the centre with paddles is
moving the concentrate slowly forward, while the evaporation takes place. To
remove the vapour a counter-current air stream is established, which is passed
through a wet scrubber for cleaning, and together with the evaporation itself this
keeps the temperature of the product low, and discolouring is avoided. As the
lactose will be super-saturated, a spontaneous crystallization will occur.
A viscosity increase will take place partly due to the increase in the solids con-
tent and crystallization, but due to the tixotropic nature of the product the vigor-
ous mechanical treatment in the ROSINAIRE™ will keep the product fluent.
- 279 -
Exhaust
Fan
Bag Filter
Wet Product In Oversize Return
Combined
Fine Air Filters Back-Mix
Plug-Flow
- 280 -
Air Heaters Fluid Bed
Sieve
Mill
Pre Air Filter
Blow Through Valve
Supply Fans
Dehumidifier
Product Out
Fig. 141 Combined back-mix/plug-flow fluid bed for drying lactose

When the product is discharged at 85%TS it is like a paste.
Screw Conveyor/Cooler:
The next processing step is a holding/curing step taking place in a screw con-
veyor with two augers. The screw conveyor is double jacketed and chilled water
is circulated to cool the product. This is done for the following reasons:
• The lactose becomes super-saturated again and further crystallization is

obtained as the holding time is long enough to obtain almost 100% crystal-
lization
• Browning of the product is avoided
• The viscosity is increasing, facilitating the following disintegration in the
fluid bed.
Fluid Bed Drying:
At the discharge, the product exhibits a texture suitable for fluid bed drying. The
product is therefore passed on to a combined back-mix/plug-flow fluid bed simi-
lar to the lactose fluid bed - see below.
Milling of the final product is recommended.
The result of the above process is a saving of 30% energy and 50% building re-
quirements.
No pre-crystallization tanks are needed, the high-concentration step takes place

at atmospheric pressure, and spray drying is not necessary.
Lactose
Whey or permeate concentrate from the crystallization tanks can also be passed
through a decanter, where the main portion of the lactose crystals is separated. The
crystals are then washed in order to remove residuals of mother liquor, after which it
is dried in a specially designed fluid bed, see Fig. 141. The fluid bed is divided into
three sections. The first section is a stationary back-mix bed into which the wet crys-
tals with 8% moisture are fed by a rotating disc. To avoid lump formations this sec-
tion is equipped with a rotating rake. From the back-mix section the powder enters the
plug-flow fluid bed section for the final drying. Hot air of about 100C is used for the
drying.
The average crystal size (200-250) is of importance for the fluidization velocity that
can be used, and it therefore influences the performance of the fluid bed, as smaller
- 281 -
- 282 -
crystals would require lower fluidization velocity, or too big carry-over of product to
the bag filter would be the result. Pre-crystallization during 48 hours is therefore used
to "grow" the size of lactose crystals.
From the second drying section the powder enters the cooling section which like the
last drying section is designed as a plug-flow fluid bed. The air used for cooling
should be dehumidified. All the exhaust air is passed through a bag filter for separa-
tion of fines, which are returned to the back-mix section. Lactose produced this way is
termed crude lactose. A more refined type - pharmaceutical lactose - is produced by
redissolving the washed crystals from above mentioned decanter and then crystallizing
a second time by cooling followed by another decanting/washing prior to the final flu-
id bed drying.
Lactose powder is very often classified with different crystal sizes. Milling of the
powder after the fluid bed and final sifting is therefore used.
Demineralized Whey
During the cheese process NaCl and CaCl 2 are often added. Some of these salts will
be contained in the whey and are in some cases unwanted, if for example the whey is
used in baby food production, where a low salt content is aimed at.
Different processes have been developed and shall in short be mentioned here:
 Membrane filtration
 Ion exchange
 Electrodialysis
Membrane Filtration
In the nanofiltration process 50% of the salts is removed (depending on the permea-
bility of the lactose chosen in the membrane) together with water in the nanofiltration
plant.
Nanofiltration is an RO process with relatively open membrane structure allowing in

particular small monovalent ions, such as Na + and Cl to pass through the membrane.
The process uses pressure lower (20-30 bar) than that applied in a normal RO plant to
ensure that as much of the salts and as little as possible of the lactose passes through
the membrane. Typical figures for molecule penetration for different membranes are:
- 283 -
Fig. 142 Flow-sheet. Ion-exchange
- 284 -
Case 1 Case 2
Lactose penetration into the permeate: % 1 4
NaCl penetration into the permeate: % 50 73
The simultaneous removal of water and monovalent ions without losing major organic
components like lactose and proteins, makes the nanofiltration an important tool for a
combined concentration and demineralization process.
Ion-Exchange
To visualize this process, two lots of resins with different characteristics should be
used, see Fig. 142. The resins usually consist of polystyrene and divinyl benzene in
form of small spheres with a diameter of 0.4-0.8 mm having a large number of at-
tached bonds on their surface which can absorb (reversibly) one specific type of ions.
The ions are divided into cations (H +, Na+, K+, Ca++, etc.) and anions (OH -, Cl-, SO4--,
etc.). When the whey is passed through the first lot of resins, the cation-exchanger, all
the cations are replaced by H+, whereas all the anions pass through the cation-
exchanger unaffected. During the subsequent passage of the decationized whey
through the second lot of resins in the anion-exchanger, all the anions are replaced by
OH-. The transfer of whey through the resin beds continues, until the resins are satu-
rated with cations and anions. This point is controlled by means of a conductivity me-
ter, after which the resin beds are purged of whey, washed with water and regenerated
by means of acid and alkali solutions. These solutions should be sufficiently concen-
trated to remove the absorbed cations and anions and replace them by H + and OH-
bringing them back to their previous state. The treatment with acid and alkaline re-
sults at the same time in a sufficient cleaning. After the regeneration the resins are
washed with clean water - preferably condensate from an evaporator - and are then
ready for another batch. A typical cycle would be two hours' production and four
hours' regeneration. Whey treated in an ion-exchange plant will be demineralized 90-
98%. The processing/holding time is 20 min., and as the processing temperature is <
10C, no bacteriological growth is experienced.
Electrodialysis
In an electro-dialysis plant a number of ionselective membranes, made from approxi-
mately the same material as the resins, is applied in form of cells. Each cell
- consisting of one cationic and one anionic membrane - is arranged in a stack analo-
gous to a plate heat exchanger. The spacing between each membrane is about 1 mm.
Between each of the above mentioned cells flows a diluent salt solution.
The entire stack is placed between a series of DC electrodes providing an electric

field. Under influence of the electric field, the cations will migrate in the direction of
the electric current - i.e. towards the -pole - and pass through the cation membrane
- 285 -
Top of TALL FORM DRYER™ (TFD)

nozzle assembly in air disperser
- 286 -
into the flushing salt solution which is recycled during operation. The anions will mi-
grate in the opposite direction of the electric current - i.e. towards the +pole - and pass
through the anion membrane into the flushing salt solution. Like the flushing salt so-
lution the whey is recycled during operation via a batch tank with a conductivity meter
attached. To obtain sufficient conductivity of the whey to be treated a preconcentra-
tion to 20-28% solids, as well as a processing temperature of 30-45C, is necessary.
The recirculation time depends on the required demineralization level and may reach
up to 6 hours, if 90% demineralizing is aimed at. Naturally, this results in bacteria
growth. To avoid this, the temperature may be lowered, which, however, will result in
an increased plant size, and thus higher investment, or formaldehyde may be added.
As the salt content decreases in the whey the conductivity decreases, and it is neces-
sary to increase the applied voltage to compensate for this. To keep the salt content in
the flushing water at an optimum level it is diluted as the process continues. Excess
salt solution is passed to the drain. The cleaning of the membranes is done by passing
acid and alkaline through the plant, an operation lasting 2 to 6 hours depending on the
plant manufacturers.
Spray drying of demineralized whey is done as for normal sweet whey as discussed on
page 261. However, due to the lower salt content, the drying becomes easier.
Special Products
Baby Food
It has always been an accepted fact that the best food for babies younger than six
months is mother's milk due to the composition and content of various vitamins and
essential aminoacids. However, many babies are fed with ordinary cow's milk to
which some water and sugar are added.
For storage stability, volume and convenience, powdered baby food of different com-
positions, to be dissolved in water before use has been developed by the multinational
companies in their attempt to resemble mother's milk. They have gained increasing
acceptance during the last years including formulations made for hyper allergic ba-
bies.
The composition of human and cow's milk is as follows:
Human milk g/l Cow's milk g/l
Casein 6.0 27.8

Lactalbumin 9.0 4.7
Protein total 15.0 32.5
Fat 41.0 37.5
Carbohydrates 69.0 48.5
- 287 -
- 288 -
Mineral salts 2.0 8.0

Total solids 127.0 126.5
From the above table it is obvious that whole milk from cows cannot just be diluted
with water and added a little sugar. In modern production of baby food powder each
component in whole milk from cows is standardized to be as close to the composition
of human milk as possible. For some formulations milk is not even used.
Powdered baby food available on the market comprises a large group of products with
different compositions, which can be classified in the following groups:
 Ordinary whole milk powder

 Whole milk powder with added carbohydrates
 Fermented milk
 Humanized milk
 Products with starch
Ordinary Whole Milk Powder

The simplest type of baby food is whole milk powder with 25 to 28% fat in the solids,
or half-cream milk powder with about 14% fat. Usually some vitamins are added, e.g.
A, B1 and D2, in order to equalize the seasonal variations in the vitamin content of
natural milk, and to keep it, throughout the year, at the optimum standard level re-
quired for babies.
Generally speaking, these products do not require any special feed treatment, but are
produced in a continuous flow from evaporator to dryer. The vitamins are added either
to the liquid milk or dosed continuously into the concentrate by means of the dosing
pump. To ensure uniform distribution of the vitamins, especially the fat-soluble ones,
homogenization of the concentrate is required.
Whole Milk Powder with added Carbohydrates

This group of baby foods is again based on full-cream or half-cream milk with added
sucrose and maltodextrine. The sucrose is added to the milk prior to the evaporation.
This allows for pasteurization of the sucrose as well, and a final product with an ac-
ceptable plate count is produced. Today industrial ready-made maltodextrine is avail-
able in most places. The maltodextrine is then mixed with partially concentrated milk.
Very often vitamins are added as well. The whole mixture must be homogenized be-
fore drying. If the preparation of the feed is a batch process there will be some storage
and delay between the evaporator and the dryer.
Fermented Milk
The next group of products is fermented milk, usually half-cream made by means of
special culture starter strains. In this case the preconcentrated milk - usually not con-
centrated to more than 22-25% TS - is inoculated by a starter (which is normally a
mixture of streptococcus lactic and lactobacillus) and fermented at a slightly elevated
- 289 -
- 290 -
temperature for 6 to 10 hours. After the required acidity has been achieved the fer-
mented concentrate is homogenized, cooled and spray dried.
Humanized Milk
The biggest group of baby foods is the so-called humanized milk. Human milk has a
very different composition from cow's milk, as it has a higher content of lactose, a
lower content of proteins with different protein composition (mainly an albumen milk
while cow's milk is a casein milk) and a different fat composition (as it has a consid-
erably higher content of unsaturated fat acids) and a lower content of minerals.
There are different steps of humanization. The simplest one is merely to increase the
content of lactose and add some vegetable fat to increase the amount of unsaturated
fat acids. Other additives, such as vitamins, ferric ions or lactulose (galaktosido-
fructose) are used as well, with the aim of converting cow's milk into a composition as
close as possible to human milk.
Two main groups of humanized baby food dominate the market:
Baby Food Composition Age of Baby:

0-6 months 6-12 months
Protein:
- Casein 6% 17%
- Whey protein 10% 4%
Fat:
- Animal 6% 5%
- Vegetable 20% 16%
Carbohydrate:
- Lactose 56% 40%
- Maltodextrine - 14%
Ash: 2% 4%
As can be seen on page 287, cow's milk contains about twice as much protein as hu-
man milk, it contains less carbohydrate and about the same amount of fat. The pre-
dominant type of protein is not the same in the two kinds of milk. Thus the curd
formed by human milk is soft and flocculent in the baby's stomach, whereas that of
cow's milk is more tenacious and elastic. Furthermore, cow's milk contains more min-
eral salts (especially Ca ++) and less vitamins.
If we look at the protein we find that a dilution of cow's milk with carbohydrates and
fat until the protein content is 15 g/l is not enough, as the composition of the protein
- 291 -
- 292 -
differs to a great extent in the two kinds of milk. WPC, see page 271, is used exten-
sively in baby food manufacture to adjust the protein content.
Cheese whey, the protein content of which is practically only lactalbumin and be-
taglobulin, is often used for standardizing. It is, however, not recommended to use it
directly, as the mineral content would become too large in the final product.
Removal of part of the salts, by membrane filtration or demineralization either by ion-

exchange or electrodialysis, is therefore nowadays used more and more, see page 285.
Regarding the fat content human milk contains more than cow's milk, and furthermore
it contains more of the polyunsaturated fat acids, such as linoleic and arachidonic ac-
ids being necessary for a better utilization of the supplied energy. It is therefore neces-
sary to add fat after the protein standardization.
Vegetable fat (often corn, palm or sunflower oil) is therefore added, as it contains
above mentioned polyunsaturated fat acids. It has been discussed to replace the animal
fat completely, but the end product would then be short of oleic acid being present in
the animal fat.
The mineral content of cow's milk is about four times that of human milk. During the
standardization with especially whey proteins (provided the whey is demineralized)
but also with fat and possibly lactose, the mineral content is reduced to an acceptable
level. However, in most cases the iron content has now become too low and iron lac-
tate, iron saccharate or iron sulphate are often added.
The vitamin concentration in cow's milk is usually smaller than in human milk. Fur-
thermore it varies with the season, so vitamins are always added to the baby food, also
because the processing destroys part of the vitamins.
Special products where the soy proteins are replacing the milk proteins are produced
for allergic babies. Due to the soy proteins the concentrate will have a high viscosity,
and it is thus necessary to lower the solids content to 40-45%.
Products with Starch

Another big group of baby foods, for babies > 9 months, contains starch, typically
with the following approximate composition:
40-50% whole milk concentrate

35-45% starch
10-15% saccharose
2.5% vitamins + minerals
The starch can be added to the process either by dry dosing or in liquid form together
with the remaining components:
- 293 -
- 294 -
 Dry dosing - whole milk and sucrose are mixed and pasteurized, after which it is
evaporated to about 45% total solids and spray dried using an inlet temperature of
180C. The powdered starch is dosed via the fines return system into the spray
dryer and is agglomerated with the concentrate particles. The agglomeration of the
starch is very important to avoid separation in the cans during storage. As pow-
dered starch often contains bacteria, a gamma radiation can be necessary to ensure
an acceptable end product.
 Liquid mixing and pasteurizing offer the advantage that the starch can be pasteur-
ized. If the pasteurization temperature is kept below 60C, the starch will not be
precooked, and the mixture is dried from a feed with 45% solids and a drying tem-
perature of 180C. If the pasteurizing temperature exceeds 72C, the starch will be
precooked and the viscosity will increase. Due to this the solids content must be
reduced to 20-25%. Drying temperatures will be 180C. Bag filters on the exhaust
air must be foreseen, as the powder loss will otherwise be too high.
Manufacture of Baby Food Powder
The standardization can of course be carried out in dry form, i.e. by a simple dry mix-
ing of the various components. But one of the most important things to be taken into
consideration when producing baby food is the bacteriological quality of the end
product.
As it is much easier to pasteurize the product in liquid form than it is to keep dry
products uninfected during processing (some of them may even contain an unaccepta-
ble level of bacteria), it is preferred to mix all the ingredients in liquid form prior to
pasteurizing and drying.
This mixing is carried out to a solids content of 40-45% using pre-evaporated milk
with 20-30% solids as basis. Demineralized and/or ultrafiltrated whey powder com-
ponents are mixed. Further, carbohydrates and fat are added, if necessary. The mixing
is carried out in big tanks equipped with volume or weight indication. The mixture is
pasteurized and evaporated to about 50-55% solids depending on composition, after
which the concentrate is homogenized and finally dried. It is important to avoid con-
tamination after the pasteurization. Open buffer tanks must therefore be avoided.
The baby food concentrate can be dried in a normal spray dryer of the type usually
used in the dairy industry.
However, due to the composition the products do not behave like ordinary milk pow-
ders in the dryer. This is caused by the higher content of carbohydrates and fat. The
powder becomes thermoplastic and sticky, and wall deposits and cyclone problems
may well occur, resulting in product loss and risk of contamination.
- 295 -
- 296 -
Fig. 143 Flow-sheet of baby food plan with wet mixing and
high-concentrator for feed preparation
Average running conditions are usually:
Solids in feed: 50-55%

Feed temperature: 70-80C
Drying temperature: 180-190C
In case a product with very high content of carbohydrates is wanted, it may be neces-
sary to use a lower drying temperature than described above.
By applying fines return, an agglomerated, instant, and free-flowing product is ob-

tained. The excess moisture is evaporated in the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, in which al-
so the cooling of the powder is carried out. Lecithin is sometimes sprayed on to the
powder thus improving the instant properties.
However, the most commonly used drying plants for baby food are either the TALL
FORM DRYER™ or the Multi-Stage Dryer (MSD™), if a product with big agglom-
erates is wanted. These two dryers offer many advantages for this type of product:
 They operate with nozzles resulting in a more free-flowing powder.
 The plug-flow air stream minimizes wall deposits, so that longer operation time
between cleaning is possible.
 The special air outlet design in the TALL FORM DRYER™ reduces the cyclone
fraction leading to less cyclone problems. This plant can produce agglomerated
and non-agglomerated products.
 The special air outlet design in the Multi-Stage dryer (MSD™) offers an optimal
agglomeration of the powder
In Fig. 143 is shown how the evaporator and dryer are connected to avoid contamina-
tion. The evaporator is working as "slave" to the spray dryer and is equipped with an
enclosed buffer tank with level control below the calandria. Control loops ensure a
constant solids content in the concentrate fed to the spray dryer.
In some cases the final product may contain an unacceptable number of bacteria origi-
nating from the raw material used in the formulas. It is now possible to UHT treat the
premix prior to the evaporation. The high temperature (120-140C) is reached by di-
rect steam injection into the premix. The temperature is immediately flashed back to
80C in a flash-regenerative preheater just prior to the evaporation. See Fig. 144.
The powder should be packed in cans of 1-2 lbs. To prolong the shelf-life a gas pack-
ing with N2 is recommended. Oxygen content should be less than 2%.
- 297 -
Fig. 144 UHT plant for baby food
- 298 -
Caseinates
Caseinates are produced by dissolving precipitated casein by means of sodium hy-

droxide, sodium phosphate or calcium hydroxide.
Caseinates are typically used as protein source in baby food, emulsifier and foam sta-
bilizer in ice-cream and desserts, and emulsifier/water-binder in meat products.
Freshly precipitated acid casein curd is the best starting material for production of
spray dried caseinates. The type of acid used for the precipitation of the casein (casein
precipitates at the isoelectric point corresponding to a pH of 4.6) does not matter
- however, if the end product is to be used for animal or human consumption, a lactic
acid fermented/precipitated skim milk is preferred.
As solutions of sodium casein contain practically only protein, they will have a high
viscosity. The viscosity will increase with increasing solids content, but also if the
concentrate is kept at a high temperature for a long time. Also the pH plays a role, and
the viscosity is lowest in the pH range of 6.6-7.
Because of the high viscosity the solids content in the redissolved concentrate has to
be kept low and is usually in the range of 18-24% depending upon the process.
The dissolution of casein by means of alkaline can be carried out in two different
ways:
 Batch Process
 Continuous Process
Batch Process
In the batch process the casein curd leaves the casein press at a solids content of
48-50% solids. The curd is dispersed in warm water in a steam-jacketed vat. The dis-
persion is slowly heated to 70C during continuous agitation and addition of a NaOH
solution to a pH of 6.6-7.
As the reaction between the casein and NaOH or (Ca(OH)2) takes some time (10-15
min. during which the temperature is 70C) the viscosity increase (age-thickening) is
significant. Furthermore, the viscosity increase is intensified, as it takes some time to
spray dry a batch. During this time another problem arises, since a discolouring due to
the Maillard reaction between remaining lactose and aminoacids cannot be avoided.
The final product will thus become light yellow and may even get a gluey taste.
Continuous Process
Increasing market interest in high quality sodium or calcium caseinate has made it at-
tractive to develop an improved technique of production. Experiments have resulted
- 299 -
Fig. 145 Schematic diagram of a continuous conversion plant

for production of NA-caseinate
- 300 -
in a continuous process line for dissolution of acid casein suspensions into caseinate
solutions.
From a technical point of view, the task is simple, the difficult point is to find appro-
priate equipment that can work reliably with a viscous material.
On the basis of the information available in the literature concerning the batch pro-
cess, the continuous process can be divided into the following stages:
1. Disintegration of the casein particles

2. Dosing of the alcaline
3. Mixing
Apart from these processes, viscosity and temperature of the solution must be con-
trolled.
The stages in the continuous process of dissolution of casein are shown in Fig. 145.
Freshly precipitated, well-washed acid casein curd and water are led into the vessel 1
which is provided with a stirrer. The quantity of water is controlled, so that the solids
content of the casein suspension is kept at the desired value.
From the vessel 1 the casein suspension is pumped by the pump 2 to the colloid mill
3. Here the suspension of casein particles in water is transformed into a thick paste.
The size of the casein particles is reduced so much that the following process of di s-
solving is accelerated considerably.
From the colloid mill 3, the casein paste passes to the mixer 4, and simultaneously a
solution of sodium hydroxide of appropriate concentration is added from dosing
equipment 5. The addition of NaOH or Ca(OH)2 is controlled by an automatic pH con-
troller.
The sodium caseinate solution leaving the mixer passes to equipment measuring and
controlling pH (6), temperature (7), and viscosity (8) of the solution.
The solution of caseinate then enters the feeding tank of the spray drying plant.
The time interval where the casein dispersion during the process of dissolving has a
low pH and therefore a very high viscosity is very quickly passed. The pH field 6.6-
7.0 is thus reached where the viscosity of the solution is at its minimum (depending
upon solids content and temperature it may reach several thousand cps).
By means of the continuous process line it is possible to reduce the reaction time from
the moment the casein is dosed with the solution of the hydroxide, until the finished
caseinate is available in dry powder from, to 1-2% of the time needed in the batch
process.
- 301 -
- 302 -
In this way it is possible partly to counteract the development of taste defects and
partly to utilize the relation between temperature and viscosity of sodium caseinate so-
lutions. The higher the temperature (in a shorter time) to which the solution can be
heated during the dissolution process and especially immediately before the drying,
the higher the solids contents in the solution.
In the continuous process it is possible, because of the short holding time, to handle
concentrates with a solids content up to 24% depending on type of alkaline.
Spray Drying of Caseinates

Spray drying of caseinates does not present any difficulties and is usually carried out
using high drying temperatures.
The main problem is the low solids content resulting in a low particle density and a
low bulk density. Special attention should therefore be paid to the powder recovery
system, and bag filters used.
In order to increase the particle density, nozzle atomization and two-stage drying is
recommended. The moisture content in the powder leaving the chamber can be as
high as 10-12%, as caseinates are good water binders. The remaining moisture content
is evaporated in VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, in which the fluidization velocity should be
kept low to ensure the powder is not carried off with the drying air.
Typical drying conditions are: Sodium Caseinate Calcium Caseinate
Drying temperature: 200-230C 200-250C

Solids content: 20-24% 20-22%
Feed temperature: 80-90C 80-90C
Moisture in chamber fraction: 10-12% 7-9%
Due to the lack of carbohydrates (lactose) as binder, it is almost impossible to ag-
glomerate the caseinates, if they are dried in conventional dryers, even if fines return
is used. Only in the Multi-Stage Dryer - MSD™(see page 148, Fig. 85) it is possible,
and if an instant powder is required, it is necessary to use lecithination for reasons as
discussed for the 80% WPC powder, see page 271.
The majority of caseinates is used in foodstuffs such as sausages, hams and luncheon
meat, where it acts as a fat emulsifier and water binder, thus protecting the product
against drying out and keeping it fresh for a longer time at the same time enriching the
product with protein.
The emulsifying effect of caseinates is utilized to a great extent in imitation milk

products, such as filled milk, imitation milk, coffee whitener, whipped cream, ice-
cream, milk-ice, etc.
The high nutritive value of caseinates makes it applicable in other foodstuffs in which
the protein content should be enriched, in spaghetti and macaroni, for example.
- 303 -
- 304 -
Bacteria-containing Products
Spray drying a product containing bacteria is easily done - however, unless special
precautions are taken, the resulting powder will contain only few live bacteria.
Spray drying trials carried out at the GEA Niro laboratory some time ago on ordinary
starter culture (i.e. milk cultured/acidified with streptococcus, betacoccus, and other
lactobacillus strains well known to the dairy industry) with 10-12% solids showed that
there was only a very limited number of live bacteria in the powder. Drying tempera-
tures even as low as 140C were enough to inactivate the major part, even the culture
was dried during the constant rate (the logarithmic increase) where the bacteria are
usually most resistant to sudden change in the condition of growth. During the same
series of trials the dryer was operated in such a way that the moisture in the powder
leaving the chamber was about 15-20% corresponding to a temperature of the out-
going air of about 50C. This means that the particles have never been heated to a
higher temperature than 35C. Despite this fact the amount of live bacteria in the
powder was very low. This means that it is not only due to the temperature that the
bacteria do not survive the drying. Even though it is not proved, it seems logical that
the sudden change in the osmotic pressure (due to the evaporation of water) can have
some influence.
When spray drying yoghurt cultures, various process steps are taken in order to avoid
these disadvantages. One type of powder can be produced, if only partial fermentation
is used, by stopping the fermentation before the pH reaches 5.9, a coagulation of the
casein can be avoided, and the lower content of lactic acid will also make the drying
easier.
The procedure is as follows:
Standardization to wanted fat content, pasteurization at 100C, evaporation to

approximately 35% TS, cooling to 42C, inoculation with 5% starter, fermenta-
tion to pH 5.9-6.0, homogenization at 100 bar, cooling to 15C, spray drying at
120-150C, moisture ex chamber as high as possible, i.e. 10%. Drying in
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ at 50C to 2% moisture. Survival 1-10 x 107 per g pow-
der, i.e. 5-10%.
The resulting powder is used when preparing yoghurt by reconstituting it in water and
inoculating it at the optimum temperature (38C) for one day.
Recently the literature has described a selective method claimed to give bacteria
strains suitable for spray drying. The above spray dried yoghurt powder is repeatedly
inoculated and dried, and after the fourth generation practically all the bacteria should
be viable. It is, however, a question whether strains with a normal enzyme system
characteristic for yoghurt are produced.
- 305 -
- 306 -
Milk Replacer
Milk replacer or filled milk is a replacement for whole milk, in which the butter fat
has been replaced by a cheaper animal or vegetable fat.
Milk replacer is used as fodder for calves, chickens, and pigs. For calves it is used for
both breeding and fattening. Two qualities of whole milk replacer are produced, one
for each purpose.
However, the finished fodder mixture has no fixed composition. The proportion of
each ingredient varies as follows:
Fat: 15 - 20%
Skim milk solids (MSNF): 65 - 80%
Dextrose, lactose, possibly whey solids: 0 - 10%
Emulsifying agents *): 0 - 2%
Flour: 0 - 7%
Minerals, vitamins: 0 - 0.5%
*) The emulsifying agents include: lecithin, mono-glycerides, sucro-glycerides
Minerals: Ca, Na, Mg, Cu, PO4, Cl, HCO3
Vitamins: A, D, E, (B, C)
Antibiotics: Terramycin or aureomycin
The fat-enriched skim milk powder can be produced in two ways:
 Dry-mixing skim milk powder and fat

 Drying an emulsion of skim milk concentrate and fat
Dry-Mixing Skim milk Powder and Fat

The dry-mixing procedure was the technique used initially. The fat-enriched skim
milk powder was produced by spraying fat on to skim milk powder, which was carried
out on a conveying belt passing a nozzle.
However, this product did neither have a good solubility nor a good shelf life.
Since then another method has been developed, by which the fat is sprayed into a
chamber to which skim milk powder is carried in an air current. This results in a
product in which the globules of fat are covered with skim milk powder particles.
This product is in many ways very good, although for some uses its qualities are not
good enough. It is of course the structure of the fat which is not ideal, as all the fat is
present as free fat, and the globules of fat are much too big. This causes decrease in
keeping properties as well as indigestion problems for the calves.
- 307 -
- 308 -
Drying an Emulsion of Skim milk Concentrate and Fat
With this method a premix is normally produced, which contains a higher amount of
fat (up to 60% fat of the total solids content) than is desired in the finished fodder
mixture.
The premix is then mixed with other components according to the requirements from
the enduser.
The raw products should consist of: (a) normally treated skim milk (pasteurized) hav-
ing an acidity of max. 14 Dornic (0.14% lactic acid) and (b) first class fats with a free
fatty acid content of less than 0.4% (as oleic acid) having a very low content of impu-
rities and water.
The skim milk is evaporated to 40-45% solids and heated to 65C.
The fats are melted and heated to approx. 55C. Both vegetable and animal fats can be
used. If the fat is delivered in road tankers it will usually have a temperature of 50-
55C, and melting equipment will be unnecessary.
Anti-oxidants (e.g. butyl-hydroxytoluine) may be added to the melted fat. If emulsify-

ing agents are desired, they will have to be added at this stage.
The fat is then heated to approx. 65C and mixed with the skim milk concentrate, and
the mixture of fat and skim milk concentrate is then led through a homogenizer, and
the emulsion is ready to be dried.
The mixing of fat and skim milk can be done as a:
 Batch Process
 Continuous Process
Batch Process
From the evaporator the skim milk concentrate is pumped via an intermediate tank to
the mixing tank. In the mixing tank the volume (or weight), density and temperature
of the batch are determined. From this the amount of skim milk solids can be calculat-
ed and thus also the corresponding amount of fat.
The fat, which is stored in a tank at 50-55C, is pumped through a preheater to the
mixing tank, where the calculated amount of fat is added to the skim milk concentrate.
In this case normally three mixing tanks will be necessary. One is being emptied while
the other one is filled and the mixing takes place in the third one.
- 309 -
- 310 -
The purpose of homogenizing is to disintegrate the fat globules to make them more
easily digestible for the animals. The aim for a maximum size of fat globules is 3
and a minimum of 90% less than 1.
The homogenizing causes an increase in the viscosity. A too viscous feed will give a
coarse spray from the atomizer, difficult drying conditions and a poor product. The
addition of emulsifiers can reduce this increase in viscosity. But then in return there
will usually be difficulties with an increased tendency of deposits in the drying cham-
ber, and so, whenever possible, the addition of emulsifiers is avoided.
Continuous Process
For continuous mixing of fat and skim milk concentrate the equipment will be as fol-
lows:
1. An evaporator furnished with automatic control of the water evaporative capaci-

ty and solids content of the concentrate
2. A storage tank for melted fat
3. Centrifugal pumps for skim milk concentrate and fat to:
4. A piston pump with three pistons on the same shaft, which makes it possible to
dose skim milk concentrate, fat, and possibly emulsifiers in a constant propor-
tion to a:
5. "Combinator" for heating and mixing fat and skim milk concentrate. The pro-
portion between the fat and the skim milk concentrate can be adjusted by chang-
ing the stroke of pistons on the pump.
6. From the "combinator" the mixture is led to a homogenizer which also acts as
feed pump for the drying plant. A variable speed drive regulates the feed rate to
the spray dryer controlled by the outlet temperature.
The spray dryer is designed especially with the purpose of operating with the least
possible amount of deposits and an efficient cooling of the produced powder.
The most important parameter is the outlet air temperature which must be sufficiently
low, so that the properties of the product will not be influenced unfavourably. In mod-
ern spray drying plants the temperature for this product is 160-190C for the inlet air.
When drying products with a high content of fat, deposits in the drying plant are in-
evitable. The deposits are undesirable, as they make the plant more difficult to clean
and cause an increased product loss. Besides this, deposits which have been settled for
some time and have become scorched may fall down and mix with the powder thus
making a powder of overall poorer quality. Finally the deposits may cause a fire as the
- 311 -
Fig.146 Spray dryer for calf milk replacers (CDI/C)
- 312 -
result of an exothermic auto-oxidation process. With the precautions stated below, the
deposits can be kept at a minimum:
 A suitable homogenizing will give low content of free fat.

 Emulsifiers should be avoided whenever possible.
 A plant design that avoids deposits – COMPACT DRYER™ or MSD™ Dryer.
 Skim milk powder or anti-caking may possibly be added to make the powder less
sticky and more free-flowing, thus keeping the chamber and cyclones clean.
 Secondary cooling air led tangentially into the drying chamber.
The main part of the powder is led from the chamber directly into a
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ working as a cooling bed, where the powder is cooled by
means of ambient air and cooled dehumidified air.
The powder from the cyclones is conveyed by means of vibrator conveyors to the
chamber for agglomeration, or to the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ working as a cooling
bed. The total amount of powder is bagged off at the end of the cooling bed, after hav-
ing been sifted. See Fig. 146.
Production of filled milk powders for human consumption is used more and more
now. The composition is equal to that of whole milk powder, i.e. with 26-28% fat.
Various vegetable oils are used, and usually the production is based on a mixture giv-
ing a melting characteristic equal to butter fat. Various vitamins are naturally added
(mainly A, D, and E).
The mixing of the skim milk and oil is carried out according to the continuous process
described above. The drying is done in a plant with fines return for agglomerating and
lecithin dosing equipment in order to make the powder instant. The powder is mainly
used in big institutions such as canteens, hotels, hospitals, in the army, etc.
This type of powder is mainly manufactured in countries with a limited local milk
production. The powder is based on imported skim milk powder which is reconstitut-
ed and mixed with locally produced fat.
Whole Milk Powder with High Free-Fat Content
The whole milk powder processing attempts to produce a powder with as low a con-
tent of free-fat as possible in order to prolong the shelf-life.
The chocolate industry is, however, interested in whole milk powder with as high a
free-fat content as possible, as it reduces the viscosity of the chocolate paste. It is
therefore possible to use less cocoa-butter, which is an expensive product.
- 313 -
Fig. 147 Multi-stage dryer for production of whole milk powder with
high free fat content (MSD™)
- 314 -
The product is produced by pre-crystallizing the lactose in the whole milk concentrate
or skim milk concentrate which is then mixed with cream in the correct proportion.
The spray dryer selected for this powder is the Multi-Stage Dryer, see Fig. 147. This
plant offers many advantages, as it is designed for products with high fat content be-
ing difficult to dry. Another advantage of this dryer is the integrated fluid bed, in
which the powder is fluidized at a high moisture content. Due to the drying the lactose
has become supersaturated again, see Crystallization of Whey Concentrate, page 253,
and the crystallization can proceed further resulting in a high free-fat content, as the
lactose crystals "grow" and destroy the protein membrane protecting the fat globules.
Addition of up to 20% lactose, based on solids, to the milk before evaporation im-
proves the crystallization (up to 90% of the total fat).
The high free-fat will of course cause more problems in the cyclones compared with
drying of normal whole milk powder, but as the MSD™ plant is equipped with a spe-
cial pre-cyclone or a CIP-able bag filter, the problem is partly solved. The final drying
and cooling is done in the VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. It is important that the final pow-
der moisture is below 2% to maintain a good colour of the chocolate.
Powders for Cheese Production
Skim milk
During the last years great efforts have been made to produce skim milk powder for
later cheese production, the reason being to counteract seasonal variations in supplies
of raw milk for cheese production. However, it also opens the possibility of sending
powder to countries with no milk production of their own for making special soft
cheese with a short shelf-life, or of producing powder for stock, if prices for cheese
are low, with a later reconstitution and cheesemaking in mind, because the keeping
quality of the powder is better compared with that of cheese.
Before going into details about the drying technique it should be mentioned that un-
less raw milk of top quality with respect to hygiene is available, a suitable powder for
making cheese of good quality cannot be obtained.
It is well known that the pasteurization temperature when producing conventional

cheese of Gouda type should be kept at max. 72C in 15 sec., and many prefer tem-
peratures as low as 60C, in order not to disturb the natural enzyme system in the
milk. It may well be that higher temperatures give bigger yields in the cheese vat, be-
cause whey proteins will precipitate and follow the casein in the cheese curd, but be-
cause of the aminoacid composition of the whey proteins, the result will be bitter
taste, generally disliked. New types of cheeses, where the aroma bacteria are not pre-
dominant and the ripening time is short, do not seem to behave this way. Milk with a
high bacteria count, especially the thermo-resistant species, is therefore not accepted
- 315 -
Base of MSD™ spray dryer and attached

VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ for final drying/cooling
- 316 -
for conventional cheese production, as the low temperatures have no effect on these
bacteria.
The criteria outlined above go for the milk intended for drying for a later production
of cheese as well, so it is not possible to use ordinary skim milk powder, as this is
normally exposed to a rather strong heat treatment. It is necessary to use milk powder
manufactured with the particular aim in mind - the so-called "low heat powder".
Skim milk powder can be classified as follows:
WPNI mg/g powder

Low heat powder: not less than 6
Medium heat powder: above 1.5, but below 6
High heat powder: not more than 1.5
The WPNI (Whey Protein Nitrogen Index) expresses the amount of undenatured whey
proteins in the powder and is a measure for the heat treatment to which the milk has
been exposed during the production. As it is the amount of denatured whey proteins
we are interested in, and as there is no practical analytical method for determination of
the degree of denaturation, it is necessary to determine the amount of total undena-
tured whey protein in the raw milk. Seasonal variations and the nature of the whey
proteins in the raw milk, however, make it necessary to measure the amount at least
once a week, but only local knowledge about the heat stability of the whey proteins at
a particular time of the year makes it possible to choose the correct heat and time
combination in order to meet a specific heat classification.
However, as the amount of whey proteins generally varies from 6-13 mg/g (mainly
8-9 mg/g) it is not enough just to obtain a WPNI of 6 mg/g, this could mean up to 7
mg undenatured whey proteins per g skim milk powder with the risk of bitter taste in
the cheese. It is therefore necessary to obtain as high WPNI values in the powder as
possible (meaning low temperatures at pasteurizing).
As mentioned, the requirement to the milk quality is high, but there is a possibility for
a pasteurization with direct steam injection in the milk immediately before entering
the first effect, where the milk is flash-cooled to the temperature in the calandria. This
way of heating has little or practically no influence on the whey proteins, whereas the
effect of killing the bacteria is increased.
Special attention should therefore be paid to the content of thermophile spore forming
bacteria, as they will not be destroyed by the "low" pasteurization temperature. They
may even start to develop in the preheating system after 14-16 hours, if special atten-
tion in form of design of the evaporator is not taken. See page 49.
But what happens to the whey proteins in the evaporator and the spray dryer? - Not
very much in the evaporator, and practically nothing in the spray dryer, provided the
- 317 -
- 318 -
temperatures are not too high. It is so that the higher the concentration the better the
whey proteins are protected against heat denaturation.
Typical production data are:
Preheat to 65-70C - no holding time (possible pasteurization to 90C with

flash-cooling to 65-70C before entering the first calandria, but watch out for
the thermophile bacteria and especially their spores)
Evaporation to 44-46% TS (no higher temperature in first effect than 65C) pos-
sible storage at 40C for 1-2 hours)
Spray drying at 180C or even 200C
Single-pass evaporators are recommended, and two-stage drying is to be preferred, as

this provides a more gentle drying, because the particle temperature is much lower,
especially during the critical drying phase from 20 to 10% moisture, which results in a
powder with no protein denaturation. The fines fraction is recycled to the
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™, where together with the chamber fraction it is finally dried to
the wanted moisture content and cooled before bagging off.
The gentle drying and after-drying mean that the rate of hydration, i.e. the time for
complete dissolution when reconstituted, is improved.
Besides giving a better product quality the drying costs are reduced, and the evapora-
tion capacity is increased, which is an advantage because of the recommended lower
solids from the evaporator meaning that a greater part of the evaporation is transferred
to the spray dryer.
The literature describing the use of skim milk powder in conventional cheese produc-
tion has been extensive during the last years, and so have the comments. It would be
too lengthy to mention them all here, but they can be summarized as follows:
The best end result was found using low pasteurizing temperatures before the evapo-
ration, even though it was proved that this temperature had no influence on the ren-
netability. One author claims that storage of the concentrate for 1-2 hours at 40C will
result in improved curd quality, which in any case is improved by adding 0.02% w/v
CaCl2 to the milk. The amount of skim milk powder which can be used depends on
the type of cheese. The more water in the final cheese the more powder (up to 50%
based on dry matter) can be used. For cheeses of Gouda or Cheddar type 20-25%
(based on dry matter) is normal. Prior to the use in the cheese vat the powder is reco n-
stituted to 9-12% solids, kept overnight and then used to standardize whole milk at
12.5% solids to the wanted fat content. One article describes the use of skim milk
powder (originating from cow's milk) for standardizing buffalo's milk to a casein:fat
ratio of 0.7:1 for production of Cheddar and Edam type cheese.
- 319 -
- 320 -
Powder produced during the summer months is preferred, as off-flavour in the milk
from the winter months may present problems.
Another possibility is cheese production from recombined powder and butter-oil pro-
duced from precipitation of cream. When the recombining is done, foaming should be
avoided, as the resulting cheese will be atypical. A fat:casein ratio of 0.78:1 should be
aimed at and the mixture homogenized at max. 30 bar. Higher pressures will damage
the fat globules, and free fatty acids will later cause off-flavours in the cheese. As
small an amount as possible should be homogenized, and it is recommended that a
cream containing 25-30% fat is prepared and mixed with the remaining reconstituted
skim milk.
Most of the articles mention the use of skim milk powder as an advantageous way of
levelling out seasonal variations in the milk supplies resulting in a better utilization of
the cheese manufacturing equipment.
Retentate
Ultrafiltration of whole milk is a well-known technique in the cheese production,
where the retentate now with a reduced content of lactose is used directly in the
cheese vat with an increased through-put as a result, or the retentate is passed on to a
direct coagulation equipment for white soft cheese. The retentate can also be spray
dried directly from the ultrafiltration equipment at a solids content of 35-40%. The re-
sulting powder can then be reconstituted at a later date in order to level out seasonal
variations. This is especially done with milk from sheep and goats.
Cheese Powder
In order to spray dry cheese it is necessary to bring it into a liquid form. This is done
by a normal melting process where the cheese rind, if any, is removed, the cheese is
disintegrated, and during heating and agitation melting salts such as phosphates and
citrates are added together with water.
The aim is to obtain a solids content of about 35% and a temperature of 75C in order
to get a feed which is not too viscous for atomization. For the drying a temperature of
180-190C is used. The cooling of the powder is done in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
supplied with ambient air in the first section and cold dehumidified air in the last sec-
tion.
The integrated belt dryer FMD, see Fig. 148, has proved especially advantageous for
cheese powder, as it is discharged in an agglomerated form. Further the cyclone frac-
tion is practically zero and does thus not present any operational problems.
Cheese powder is mainly used in dips, dressings, biscuits, chips and direct as flavour-
ing on hot dishes like spaghetti and soups.
- 321 -
Top of FILTERMAT™ Spray Dryer showing

nozzle assembly and air disperser
- 322 -
As a certain amount of aroma is lost during the drying it is recommended to use aged
cheese. In order to avoid problems with the odour form the exhaust air this may be fil-
tered through activated carbon filters.
Cocoa-Milk-Sugar Mixtures
This type of powder is used extensively in vending machines for preparation of hot
chocolate drinks, but the powder is also sold in ordinary retail packages and used in
households.
The powder will usually have the following composition:
Cocoa: 15-35%
Skim milk solids: 40-60%
Sugar: 20-40%
If the amount of cocoa and sugar is not higher than 15% and 20%, respectively, the
single components may be spray dried as a mixture (which is homogenized) from a
feed with 45% solids and a drying temperature of 170-180C. In order to obtain a
free-flowing powder suitable for vending machines the cyclone fraction is recycled to
the atomizing device for agglomeration. The powder is after-dried and cooled in a
VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ similar to the spray drying agglomeration process, as de-
scribed in page 154.
If the amount of cocoa and sugar is higher, it is recommended to add the exceeding
amount in dry form. This is done via the fines return system by means of an additional
blow-through valve and a powder dosing equipment for the pre-mixed cocoa and sug-
ar which is stored in a silo. It should be observed that the sugar should be fine ground
to obtain an optimum agglomeration.
Coffee-Whitener
Coffee-whitener - artificial cream with vegetable oil - is another big group of recom-
bined products that are spray dried.
The typical composition of a coffee-whitener is as follows:
Glucose syrup or maltodextrine with a DE of 25-30: 60-65%

Hydrogenated vegetable fat with melting point 35-40C: 30-32%
Na-caseinate: 3-5%
Artificial cream flavour, colour and emulsifiers: 1-3%
Phosphates: 1-3%
- 323 -
- 324 -
The above ingredients are recombined at 60-70C in large tanks to solids contents at
65-70%. The mixture is homogenized in two stages and then spray dried.
Both rotary and nozzle atomizers can be used, however nozzles are usually preferred,
as they give a more free-flowing powder. The powder must be instantly soluble in hot
beverages such as coffee or tea, and an agglomerated powder is therefore necessary.
In conventional dryers equipped with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ and fines return system

a drying temperature of 165-170C is used. The powder is discharged from the drying
chamber at max. 3.5% moisture to avoid powder deposits due to the high content of
glucose syrup being thermoplastic and tending to adhere to the drying chamber, if the
powder is too moist.
The final drying and cooling is done in a VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™. If a Multi-Stage

Dryer (MSD™) is used, it is possible to use higher drying temperatures (180-200C)
without getting problems with powder deposits.
Cappuccino Powder
In principle Cappuccino powder is used like coffee-whitener to "whiten" coffee, how-

ever, with the main purpose of getting a thick stable foam layer on the surface of the
coffee after reconstitution. A lot of Cappuccino powder is sold already mixed with i n-
stant soluble coffee and sugar - ready to use.
The foaming ability is achieved when the powder releases the gasses entrained in the
powder
 Occluded gas in form of air and CO 2; the latter has by purpose been injected into
the concentrate prior to drying
 Interstitial air, due to the agglomeration of the product.
The composition of the concentrate is slightly different from that of coffee-whitener to

enhance the ability to form a thick layer of stable foam. The typical composition is as
follows:
Glucose syrup or maltodextrine with a DE of 25-30: 40-45%

Vegetable fat with melting point 35-40C: 20-25%
Low-Heat skim milk powder: 30-35%
Artificial cream flavour, colour and emulsifier: 1-3%
Phosphates: 1-3%
- 325 -
- 326 -
During the mixing of the ingredients at 60-65C to a total solids content of 50-55% it
is important to avoid incorporation of air into the concentrate, as it will take up
"space" for CO2 - therefore the mixing should be done under vacuum. It is further im-
portant to avoid long holding times at 60-65C due to age-thickening.
After mixing the concentrate is homogenized in two stages at 150/50 bar g, followed
by a pasteurization to 70-75C for 15 sec. Then it is cooled to 50-55C.
Injection of liquid CO 2 is done using the LSI™ unit, see page 87, as this offers the
best dissolution of the CO2 in the concentrate. The amount of liquid CO 2 that can be
dissolved in the concentrate depends on the temperature and pressure of the concen-
trate. Low temperature and high pressure results in more dissolved CO 2.
Drying of the concentrate is done in a Multi-Stage Dryer (MSD™) with nozzles, see
page 148, as this plant offers the best possibility for agglomeration to increase the
content of interstitial air. Drying air temperature is typically 200-210C depending on
ambient conditions. The bulk density of the final powder is typically 0.15 g/ccm, the
foam height is approx. 10 mm, with a stability of ½-1 hour.
- 327 -
- 328 -
List of Figures
Fig. 1 Forced recirculation evaporator
Fig. 3 Evaporation in a falling film evaporator tube
Fig. 3a Evaporator calandria
Fig. 4 One-stage evaporator. Definition of various specific quantities

and the corresponding heat-flow diagram
Fig. 5 Principle of two-stage evaporation of water
Fig. 6 Thermo-Compressor
Fig. 7 Two-stage evaporator with thermo-compressor
Fig. 8 Heat-flow diagram. Two-stage evaporator with thermo-compressor
Fig. 9 Mono-thermal compression. 7-stage TVR evaporator
Fig. 10 Poly-thermal compression. 7-stage TVR evaporator
Fig. 11 One-stage MVR evaporator
Fig. 12 Heat flow diagram MVR evaporator
Fig. 13 Working cycle of a mechanical compressor
Fig. 14 Combined MVR/TVR evaporator
Fig. 15 Combined MVR/MVR evaporator
Fig. 17 Evaporator calandria split in two sections
Fig. 17a Separator with tangential inlet
Fig. 17b Wrap-around separator
Fig. 18 Dynamic product distribution system
- 329 -
Fig. 19 Static product distribution system
Fig. 20 Spiral-tube preheaters
Fig. 21 Straight-tube preheaters
Fig. 22 mg WPNI/g powder as a function of the pasteurization intensity,

a relation between temperature and time
Fig. 22a % denaturation of -lactoglobulin
Fig. 23 Development of free -SH groups as a function of

pasteurization temperature
Fig. 24 Switchable indirect heat exchangers
Fig. 25 Indirect spiral-tube heat exchanger working in series,

heated by steam and flash vapour
Fig. 26 Direct pasteurizing system with direct contact flash

regenerative system
Fig. 26a Optimal bacteria growth conditions
Fig. 26b Duplex Preheater
Fig. 26c Direct contact preheater flash chamber
Fig. 27 Mixing condenser
Fig. 28 Surface condenser
Fig. 29 Cooling tower
Fig. 30 High concentrator and feed system
Fig. 31 Density control by means of feed flow
Fig. 32 Density control by means of steam pressure/flow
Fig. 33 Density control by back-mixing liquid pasteurized milk

or condensate
Fig. 34 Vacuum control, regulating the amount of cooling water

in a mixing condenser
Fig. 35 Vacuum control, "bleeding system" in a mixing condenser
- 330 -
Fig. 36 Age-thickening as a function of temperature (skim milk 48.5% solids)
Fig. 37 Age-thickening as a function of solids content (skim milk 55C)
Fig. 38 Spray drying plant
Fig. 39 Different types of drying chambers
Fig. 40 Removable insulation panels for spray drying chambers
Fig. 40a Filter standards
Fig. 41 Indirect oil-fired air heater
Fig. 42 Air disperser, horizontal box dryer
Fig. 43 Ceiling air disperser with adjustable guide vanes
Fig. 44 Plug-flow air disperser
Fig. 45 Feed system
Fig. 46 HIPEX heat exchanger
Fig. 47 Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger
Fig. 47a Viscosity of whole milk concentrates as a function of homogenization

pressure and solids content in the concentrate
Fig. 47b NanoValve®
Fig. 48 High-pressure nozzle, "Delavan"
Fig. 49 High-pressure nozzle, "Spraying System"
Fig. 50 Two-fluid nozzle
Fig. 51 Center cyclone
Fig. 52 Cyclone
Fig. 53 Cyclone battery with central hopper
Fig. 54 Rotary valve with conical rotor
Fig. 55 Critical particle diameter and grade efficiency curves

for a cyclone
Fig. 56 Bag filter
- 331 -
Fig. 57 Spray dryer with bag filter
Fig. 58 Sanitary wet scrubber
Fig. 59 Wet scrubber recycled with water
Fig. 59a Wet scrubber recycled with milk
Fig. 60 SANICIP™
Fig. 60a Reverse jet air nozzle
Fig. 61 Airveyor for precooling of powder
Fig. 62 Pneumatic conveying system
Fig. 63 VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
Fig. 64 Perforated plate (BUBBLE PLATE™)
Fig. 65 Control room
Fig. 66 IT-Architecture for the control system
Fig. 67 Conventional spray dryer with pneumatic conveying system (SDP)
Fig. 68 Weight, volume and diameter decrease of a droplet during

ideal drying conditions
Fig. 69 Wheel with curved vanes for powder with high bulk density
Fig. 70 Steam-swept wheel
Fig. 71 Foaming ability of skim milk concentrate
Fig. 72 Temperature development
Fig. 73 Typical particle from one-stage drying
Fig. 74 Spray particle. One-stage drying
Fig. 75 Overheated particle. One-stage drying
Fig. 76 Micro-photo of skim milk powder from a plant with

- 332 -
Fig. 77 VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ in sanitary design
Fig. 77a BUBBLE PLATE™
Fig. 78 Spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ for two-stage drying
Fig. 79 Typical particle from two-stage drying
Fig. 80 Pressure conveying system from VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ to silo system
Fig. 81 Energy consumption/kg evaporation as a function of

residual moisture content
Fig. 82 Perforated plate for directional air flow (BUBBLE PLATE™)
Fig. 83 COMPACT DRYER™ with pneumatic conveying system, (CDP)
Fig. 84 Compact spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ as

agglomerator/instantizer, (CDI)
Fig. 85 Multi-stage spray dryer (MSD™)
Fig. 85a Integrated Filter Dryer (IFD™)
Fig. 85b Reverse jet air nozzle
Fig. 86 Definition of different agglomeration processes
Fig. 86a Spontaneous primary agglomeration
Fig. 86b Forced primary agglomeration
Fig. 86c Spontaneous secondary agglomeration
Fig. 86d Forced secondary agglomeration
Fig. 87 Fines return rotary atomizer "old type"
Fig. 88 Forced secondary fines return for rotary atomizer FRAD
Fig. 89 Forced secondary fines return for nozzle atomizer
Fig. 90 Complete plant for production of agglomerated products (MSD™)
Fig. 90a Agglomerate structure / Powder properties relationship
Fig. 90b Onion-structured agglomerate
Fig. 90c Compact grape structured agglomerate
- 333 -
Fig. 91 The Peebles Rewet Instantizer
Fig. 92 Rewet agglomeration plant (Nestlé)
Fig. 93 Feed system for a rewet plant (wetting by means of

warm water atomized by an atomizer)
Fig. 94 Feed system for a rewet plant. Wetting by means of warm moist air
Fig. 95 GEA Niro multi-purpose REWET AGGLOMERATOR™
Fig. 96 Preheating by means of condensate
Fig. 97 Humidity chart for air-water (set of adiabatic curves based

on water of 45C)
Fig. 98 Heat recuperator type air-to-air
Fig. 99 One-stage spray dryer with heat recuperator type air-to-air
Fig. 100 Heat recuperator type air-liquid-air
Fig. 100a One-stage spray dryer with heat recuperator type air-liquid-air
Fig. 101 Comparison of titratable acidity based solely on

alcali consumption
Fig. 102 Laboratory measuring equipment for "Air in Milk Concentrate"
Fig. 103 Determination of moisture
Fig. 104 Determination of powder bulk density
Fig. 105 Bulk density as influenced by the pasteurization temperature

(expressed in mg WPNI/g skim milk powder)
Fig. 106 Apparatus for measuring the flowability
Fig. 107 Determination of insolubility index
Fig. 108 Determination of scorched particles
Fig. 109 Determination of surface free fat
Fig. 110 Determination of wettability
- 334 -
Fig. 111 Determination of dispersibility
Fig. 112 Determination of hygroscopicity
Fig. 113 Spray dryer for one-stage drying (SDP)
Fig. 114 Spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ as after-dryer, (SDI)
Fig. 115 Spray dryer with VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™ as

agglomerator/instantizer, (SDI)
Fig. 116 Agglomeration by fines return (Forced secondary agglomeration)
Fig. 117 Process Diagram. Instant whole milk powder
Fig. 118 Two-stage lecithination plant
Fig. 119 Lecithin dosing equipment
Fig. 120 Complete plant for production of instant whole milk powder
Fig. 121 Various processes for whey treatment
Fig. 122 Preservation of whey with formaldehyde and peroxide
Fig. 123 Evaporation ratio: C as a function of mass-flow and

evaporation capacity
Fig. 124 Preconcentration of whey prior to transport to

centrally placed drying installation
Fig. 125 Relationship between the moisture content, air temperature,

particle temperature and the sticking point temperature
Fig. 126 Lactose molecule in  and  configuration
Fig. 127 Mutarotation
Fig. 128 Transformation of  lactose to  in 1 hour (expressed in % of

obtainable transformation to the equilibrium)
Fig. 129 Solubility of  and  lactose in water at different temperatures
Fig. 130 Whey crystallization tanks
Fig. 131 Viscosity development during the crystallization of

whey concentrate
Fig. 132 Lactose crystallization as a function of time
- 335 -
Fig. 133 Evaporator, two flash coolers with crystallization tanks, and a
compact dryer for continuous production of semi-crystallized
whey powder


VIBRO-FLUIDIZER™
Fig. 136 Spray dryer with belt for after-crystallization
Fig. 137 Processing of fat-enriched whey powder
Fig. 139 Solubility of the final WPC product as a function of the air
outlet temperature from the spray dryer
Fig. 140 TALL FORM DRYER™ for whey protein products (TFD)
Fig. 140a COMPACT DRYER™ for permeate - Dry process
Fig. 140b TALL FORM DRYER™ for permeate - Wet process
Fig. 140c The TIXOTHERM™ Process
Fig. 141 Combined back-mix/plug-flow fluid bed for drying lactose
Fig. 142 Flow-sheet. Ion-exchange
Fig. 143 Flow-sheet of a baby food plant with wet mixing and
high-concentrator for feed preparation
Fig. 144 UHT plant for baby food
Fig. 145 Schematic diagram of a continuous conversion plant for

production of Na-caseinate
Fig. 146 Spray dryer for calf milk replacers (CDI/C)
Fig. 147 Multi-stage dryer for production of whole milk powder with
high free fat content (MSD™)
- 336 -
Bibliography
"Spray Drying", 5th edition, K. Masters, GEA Niro
"Analytical Methods for Dry Milk Products", 4th edition, I. Haugaard Sørensen, J. Krag, J.
Pisecky, and V. Westergaard, GEA Niro
"Avances Tecnológicos en los Procesos de Fabricación de Productos Lácteos en Polvo",

Conferencia FAO Chile 1976, Ing. Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro
"Energy Economy in Evaporation and Spray Drying", Ing. Harald Torssel L.M.C.
Vänersborg - Lecture held at Dairy Exhibition, Paris 14th November, 1974
"Baby Food Powder", I. Haugaard Sørensen, GEA Niro, Danish Dairy Industry, June 1978
"Bulk Density of Milk Powders", J. Pisecky, GEA Niro, Dairy Industries International,
February 1978
"The Theory and Practice of Atomization in Spray Drying", K. Masters, GEA Niro,
Chemical Engineer, Birmingham University, Vol. 17 No. 1, 1966
"Wet Scrubbers - Powder Problems Solved", J. Krag, H. Hauberg, GEA Niro, Dairy
Industries International, October 1976
"Manufacture of Instant Whole Milk Powder Soluble in Cold Water", Dr. J. Pisecky, Vagn
Westergaard, GEA Niro, Dairy Industries, March 1972
"Producción de Leche Instantánea en Polvo", Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro, Industrias

Lácteas, Julio/Agosto 1978
"Evaporation and Spray Drying in the light of Automation", GEA Niro, Scandinavian
Galaxy 1968
"Continuous Production of Spray dried Sodium Caseinate", A. Bergmann, GEA Niro,

Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology, April 1978
"Milk Droplets, their Creation and Drying", Dr. J. Pisecky, GEA Niro, World Galaxy,
November 1974
"Winter School on Spray Drying", various authors, Australia
"Structure and Properties of Organic Components", Noller, Stanford University
"Dairy Microbiology", E.M. Foster, Etal London, Macmillian & Co. Ltd. 1958
- 337 -
"Elaboración de Leche en Polvo y Productos Diéticos", Ing. N. Parareda, GEA Niro,

Argentina
"Some Aspects of Whey Drying", I. Haugaard Sørensen, Dr. J. Pisecky, GEA Niro
"Atomización para Producir Leche en Polvo", GEA Niro, 1969
"Standards for Grades of Dry Milks", ADMI Bulletin 916
"Basic Principles of Spray Drying of Milk", I. Haugaard Sørensen, GEA Niro, Lecture
given at Dairy Exhibition "SALIMA", 1975
"The Effective Utilization of Energy in the Milk Powder Industry", Dr. J. Pisecky, GEA
Niro
"Utilization of Whey", Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro, FAO Cheese Production Seminar,
Valdivia 1978
"Instant-Vollmilchpulver", Dr. J. Pisecky, GEA Niro, Deutsche Molkerei Zeitung 21/78
"Drying of Milk and Milk Products", sec. edition, Halland Hedrick, Westport,
Connecticut. The AVI Publishing Company Inc. 1971
"Condensed Milk and Milk Powder", seventh edition. Hunziker, published by the author,
La Grange, Illinois, 1949
"Energiutnyttjande i Mjolkpulverindustrin", Dr. J. Pisecky, GEA Niro. Nordisk

Mejeriindustri 4/5-78
"Neuentwicklungen beim Eindampfen von Milch und Milchprodukten", Dipl.Ing. J. van

Loon, Niro Atomizer B.V., Holland. Konserven-Institut Neumünster 4.-6. März 1981
"Concentración por Recompresión Mecánica - Comparación con la Tecnología Clásica",

Mr. Parant Laguilharre, France
"Tecnología de la Leche en Polvo", Lic. E Bisgaard and Ing. Vagn Westergaard, GEA
Niro. Simposio Agro-Industrial, Mexico-Dinamarca 26 y 27 Nov. 1981
"The Microprocessor Instrumentation", Frederik Steensen, GEA Niro, Danish Dairy

Industry Denmark, May 1980
"Nuevos Desarrollos en la Economía Térmica del Proceso de Secado por Atomización",

Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro
Bulletin 45 and 53, Heat Recuperators, GEA Niro
"Nueva Tecnología del Suero en Polvo", Ing. Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro. Industrias
Lácteas, 1983
"New Generation of Spray dryers for Milk Products", Dr. J. Pisecky, GEA Niro. Dairy
Industries International, April 1983
- 338 -
"Hygienic Improvements in Evaporators and Spray Dryers", V. Westergaard, GEA Niro.

European Dairy Magazine, June 1990
"Meeting Powder Specifications through Correct Spray Dryer Design Selection", Dr.
Keith Masters, GEA Niro
"Processing Plants for the Dairy Industry", Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro
"Impianti di Processo per l'Industria Lalliero-Casearia", Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro
"Spiral Wound Membranes", Jørgen Wagner, GEA Niro. Danish Dairy & Food Industry
World Wide, 1990
"20 Years of Instant Whole Milk Powders", Dr. Jan Pisecky, GEA Niro. Scandinavian
Dairy Information
IDF Bulletin Document 133, 1981
IDF Bulletin Document 243, 1984
"Processing and Quality of Foods", Vol 1. P. Zeuthen, DTH, 1990, Elsevier Science
Publishers Ltd., Essex, England
"Omdannelse af Protein og Laktose ved UHT-behandling af Mælk". Studieopgave på

KVL Mejeribrugsstudiet. Henrik Bo Andersson og Niels Lange Jørgensen, 1990-91
"Thermal Processing and Quality of Foods". P. Zeuthen, DTH, Elsevier Science

Publishers Ltd., Essex, England
Various Analytical Methods from NZDRI/NZ Dairy Board, New Zealand
"Milcherhitzung und SH-Gruppenentwicklung", O. Kirchmeier et al. Milchwissenschaft

39 (12), 1989
"Production of Powdered Baby Foods", I. H. Sørensen, E. Jørgensen, V. Westergaard,

GEA Niro, Scandinavian Dairy Information 4/1992
"Fortschritte beim Agglomerieren während des Sprühtrockners", E. Refstrup, GEA Niro,

ZFL/European Food Science 10/1992
"A new generation of CIP-able bag filters", Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro, SDI 2/01
"The new Niro Integrated Filter Dryer IFD™", Vagn Westergaard, GEA Niro, Danish
Dairy & Food Industry, September 2002
"Effect of lactose crystallisation on the oxidative stability of infant formula", M.K.

Thomsen, J.C. Knudsen, J. Risbo and L.H. Skibsted, The Royal Veterinary and Agri-
cultural University, Denmark, published in Milchwissenschaft 58 (7/8) 2003
Patent application WO 01/62098 A1 - 30 Aug. 2001
- 339 -

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Evaporation and Spray Drying

engineering for a better world GEA Process Engineering

Preface to Fifth Edition

Development of evaporation and spray drying technology and associated equipment is

I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues for their valuable comments, editing

GEA Niro, Copenhagen, February 2010 (reprinted)

Falling Film Evaporators ............................................................................... 17

Auxiliary Equipment for the Evaporator ........................................................ 37

 Pasteurization Temperature ................................................................................... 61

Concentrate Properties .................................................................................... 65

Spray Drying .......................................................................................... 71

Drying Chamber .............................................................................................. 73

Hot Air System and Air Distribution .............................................................. 75

Feed System ..................................................................................................... 83

Atomizing Device ............................................................................................. 89

Atomization in Spray Dryers for Milk Products ............................................. 99

Powder Separation System .............................................................................101

Pneumatic Conveying and Cooling System ...................................................115

Fluid Bed After-Drying/Cooling ....................................................................119

Instrumentation and Automation ..................................................................119

Milk Powder Technology .................................................................... 123

One-Stage Drying ...........................................................................................123

Two-Stage Drying ...........................................................................................131

 Sizing ................................................................................................................... 169

Heat Economy of a Milk Powder Production Line ........................... 171

Heat Recuperation .........................................................................................175

Other Means of Saving Energy ......................................................................181

Raw Milk Quality ...........................................................................................185

Analyses for Raw Milk ...................................................................................189

Analyses for Milk Concentrate ......................................................................191

Analyses for Milk Powder ..............................................................................193

Surface Free Fat ................................................................................................... 209

Analyses for Whey Powder .............................................................................221

Dehydration of Foodstuffs .................................................................. 225

Different Food Ingredients ............................................................................225

Ordinary Milk Powders ..................................................................................229

Instant Milk Powders .....................................................................................231

Mother Liquor...................................................................................................... 271

Special Products .............................................................................................287

List of Figures ...................................................................................... 329

Bibliography ........................................................................................ 337

Vibrating Fluid Bed Drying:

Integrated Fluid Bed Drying:

Integrated Belt Drying:

Fig. 1 Forced recirculation evaporator

Fig. 2 Falling-film recirculation evaporator

Lower Tube Plate

Fig. 3 Evaporation in a falling film evaporator tube

Fig. 3a Evaporator calandria

Falling Film Evaporators

Fig. 4 One-stage evaporator. Definition of various specific quantities

Given quantity to be found Formula

Concentrate quantity C A A=Cxe (7)

Where A: feed in kg/h

Fig. 5 Principle of two-stage evaporation of water

Boiling temperature C 100 60

corresponding to about 1.1 kg steam/kg evaporated water.

To simplify the following examples we will use 1 kg steam/kg evaporated water.

Boiling Vacuum corresp. to m above Volume of

100 0 760 0 1.7 m3/kg

85 4.5 434 5,200 2.8 m3/kg

70 7.2 233 10,000 4.8 m3/kg