Impact of Spray-Drying Process Parameters on Dairy Powder Surface Composition and Properties

Abstract

To design dairy powder properties according to their future use, it is necessary to know how to identify the main process parameters that influence the drying mechanisms and to optimize them on the basis of the desired powder properties. The impacts of atomization process parameters on powder physicochemical properties and surface composition were investigated and correlated. The analytical results permitted us to sort the produced powders into groups according to their dependency to process parameters. This study shows the feasibility of developing a model for the prediction of the physicochemical properties of dairy powders via a reverse engineering approach.

Keywords:

• Dairy powders
• Powder properties
• Process parameters
• Reverse engineering approach
• Spray-drying

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PTC Nestec Konolfingen (Switzerland) is thanked for the stimulating scientific discussions. In particular, Jürg Schlagenhaufen and Tobias Kockel provided valuable technical and scientific support.