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A survey is presented of various processes and spray drying installations for obtaining skimmed milk
powders with desired qualities. The spray dryers discussed are: spray dryer with pneumatic conveying
system, two-stage drying system, spray dryer with cooling bed, and spray dryer with straight-through
instantizer. The rewet agglomeration process is also described.
The second part deals with the most important final product properties (moisture, bulk density, and
solubility index) and with the parameters controlling them.
In the thirdpart the possibilities are discussed of saving energy and reducing stockloss. Two types of heat
recuperators (air-to-air and air-to-liquid-to-air) and wet scrubber are described.
Skimmed milk powder is the most common dried milk seventies, have changed the situation dramatically. Every
product. It represents more than 60 per cent of the total producer must be competitive in all respects t o achieve (a)good
production of the milk powder industry and technologically it consistent product quality, ( b ) low energy consumption, ( c )low
can be produced without difficulty on any of the 2,000 existing running costs, (d)minimal labour, and ( e ) low powder loss.
dairy spray drying installations in the world. There are a number Spray dried skimmed milk powder is manufactured in two
of types of spray dryer which differ in design, air flow pattern, basic qualities, ordinary product and agglomerated product, by
method of atomization, etc., as shown in Figure 1. means of five different spray drying systems, as shown in
Space does not allow me t o describe and compare the Figure 3. As well as in households and farms, the final product is
performance of all these components, and probably it is not used in further processing industries for making ice-cream,
necessary. We all agree that any spray dryer (preceded by any recombined milks, cheeses, fat-milk powders, baby-food,
evaporator) can be used to convert liquid skimmed milk into a processed meats, prepared dry mixes, confectionery, chocolate,
powder, if the target is that quality specified by the American soft drinks, soups, sauces, dressings, pharmaceuticals, etc. For
Dried Milk Institute (Fig. 2) and if there are no special these further processing industries, special types of skimmed
requirements as to energy consumption. However, develop- milk powder have been developed with modified properties to
ments during the last few decades, and especially during the give products that are better suited to a given purpose than
Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology, Vol. 34, No. 2, April 1981 57
Atomization Rotary wheel TYPE: ~IpI(tuTI
Pressure nozzle
Two-fluid nozzle
Chamber Vertical conventional
Vertical tall-form ORDINARY PNCUUATIC awmma
Horizontal (box-type)
Powder discharge By gravity (conical bottom) RUJULAR
Mechanically (flat bottom) ( NON- AGOLO-
58 Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology. Vol. 34, No. 2, April 1981
PROPERTIES OF MILK POWDERS
General properties
-/
Properties influenced by processing
I
Quality
I
Basic powder properties Functional properties Product faults
lo) Acidity I
Ib ) Microbiological I
properties I ( 0 ) Free moisture Instant properties Solubility index
1 lb) Particle size ( 0 0 ) Wettability Scorched
Ic) State of f a t I distribution lbo) Dispersibility particles
(ac) Physical
Ibc) Chemical
I lob) Primary
(co) Sinkability
Free fat
I L bb) Secondary (do) Rate of hydration
Id) Organoleptic Scum
Flowability
properties lc) Partical density White flecks
Friability
Id) Bulk density Specks
WPNI
l a d Low-heat
Composition of the solids Ibd) Medium
(cd) High heat
Hygroscopicity
( 0 ) Fat
Cakyness
1b ) Non-fat solids Thermostabillty
ic Food ingredients Shelf life
Id) Functianal additives
Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology, Vol. 34, No. 2, April 1981 59
Conditions of Conditions of Conditions of
drying air atomization feed
9
Wheml velocity
or Pasteurization
temperature
Inlet temperaturr
Outlrt temperatun
Speed or Fines
L, Agglomeration
return
Fig. 8. Influence of various factors on bulk density (reprint from Dairy Industries International, Feb. 1978)
Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology, Vol. 34. No. 2. April 1981
Usually we can say that a spray dryer with a cooling bed is not
highly recommended if it is to run solely with agglomerated
skimmed milk powder. This dryer was designed primarily for
high-fat products, and its application for agglomerated
skimmed milk must be considered as secondary.
The spray dryer with straight-through instantizer, as shown in
Figure 10, works on the two-stage drying principle. It means
that the powder leaves the chamber with 2-3 per cent higher
moisture, and that it runs with a low outlet temperature
benefiting from all the above-mentioned advantages resulting
therefrom. The excess moisture is removed in the Vibro-
Fluidizer after-drying section, and the powder is cooled down in
the cooling section. The fines blown off in both sections are,
together with the fines from the main cyclones, recycled for
agglomeration.
The moisture content of droplets within the agglomeration
zone is much higher than in the dryer previously mentioned, and
Fig. 9. Spray drying plant with cooling bed system. - milk; . . . . . . cool
air; - - - - heated air this makes it possible to obtain well-agglomerated powder of
true instant quality. From the point of view of economy, it is
again comparable to the two-stage dryer.
The third possibility for manufacturing instant skimmed milk
powder is rewet agglomeration. The equipment is shown in
Figure 1 1. The used raw material is an ordinary powder which is
transported by blow-line from the supply silo to the
3 agglomeration chamber. For skimmed milk powder so-called
surface agglomeration is used in the agglomeration tube. The
transport blow-line brings the powder axially into the
agglomeration tube, into which hot air with high relative
humidity is simultaneously introduced tangentially. The
powder particles pick u p the moisture from the air, thus
becoming wet and sticky. The vortex movement in the tube
provides the mechanical impact necessary for obtaining stable
agglomerates.
The instant quality of rewet powder, supposing that the
general quality of the outgoing powder was reasonably good, is
superior to that of straight-through powder. On the other hand,
due t o doubled processing, the production costs are higher.
Moreover, rewet powder is much more voluminous than
straight-through powder, thus requiring more and stronger
packaging material to protect the product against crushing
during transport and manipulation. Rewet powder is therefore
an excellent instant product, but a somewhat luxury product for
special applications, representing a negligible amount of the
total volume of skimmed milk powder production.
Fig. 10. Spray drying plant with straight-through instantizer system.
- milk; . . . . . . cool air; - - - - heated air The two-stage drying principle, either without recycling the
fines for the manufacture of ordinary heavy powder or with
fines recycling for instant products, is the way to satisfy the
demands of the industry for improved powder quality and
reduced consumption of energy. Also the stack-loss of a two-
......... f
stage dryer provided with cyclones is considerably lower, being
Fig. 1 1 . Rewet instantizing plant. - milk; . . . . . , cool air; - - - -heated Fig. 12. Wet scrubber
air
Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology, Vol. 34, No. 2, April 1981 61
Ex haust air
inlet I 1
outlet
Fig 13 (left).
Heat recuperator (air-to-air)
Fig. 14 (below).
Heat recuperator (air-to-liquid-to-air)
Cleamng w a t r i n M
Journal af the Society of Dairy Technology, Vol. 34. No. 2. April 1981