Monitoring the Spray Drying Process
Monitoring the Spray Drying Process with a BUCHI NIR-Online® process analyzer: Moisture, Protein, and Fat Determination in Dairy Powder with NIR
Spray drying is a highly complex and energy consuming process. The prior standardized liquid dairy product is transformed into small sized droplets and exposed to hot air. The immediate evaporation of water leaves the dry powder product. These process steps are critical to meet the tight limits of product quality parameters, such as moisture, protein, fat, ash, and color. Such balance depends on the broad product range within the dairy powder industry, such as skim/whole milk powder, cream powder, curd cheese powder, yoghurt powder and the variety of application requirements in subsequent products, i.a. infant formulas, sports nutrition, and confectionary products. The installation of a BUCHI NIR-Online® process sensor after the drying steps enables real-time monitoring and adjustment in order to meet the final target parameters, resulting in consistent high product quality, reduced operating costs and increased yield.
