Efficient process for the production of permeate powders

- An innovative process scheme for producing permeate powders was developed.
- This process scheme is based on thin-film rotary evaporators able to handle viscous products.
- No spray-drying step is required for producing permeate powders following this scheme.
- Significant savings on energy consumption, building and CIP requirements can be made.

An innovative process scheme for the production of permeate powders is evaluated in this paper. It is based on an overconcentration step that makes it possible to replace the spray-drying step used in conventional processes. This innovative processing scheme includes: (1) overconcentration of the permeate concentrate from 60 to 80% w/w dry matter (DM) content; (2) granulation of the overconcentrate with powder up to 88% DM; and (3) drying of the granules up to 97% DM.The feasibility of the process was validated at the pilot scale and the properties of the resulting permeate powder were comparable to those of a powder produced using the conventional process. Considering water removal, the energy savings in comparison to the conventional process were estimated in the range of 10.7 to 23.5%, and up to 32% when considering the whole production process or the drying step alone, respectively.Industrial relevanceThe global demand of whey and permeate powders has considerably grown over the past decade, especially due to the increasing production of infant milk powders. The transformation of a liquid product into a powder requires a high energy-consuming drying step and energy savings on the current technology, i.e., spray drying, are difficult to achieve since most of the energy is used for water removal. One solution is to develop a disruptive technology allowing the production of powders without spray drying, as proposed and described in this paper. The new process scheme is composed of three thin-film rotary evaporators in series, specifically designed to handle highly viscous products. The feasibility of the process was validated at the pilot scale and the results showed that it leads to significant savings on energy and building requirements for a quality of powder at least equivalent to a standard powder produced using conventional technologies.