Investigation of suitable spray drying conditions for sugarcane juice powder production with an energy consumption study

Sugarcane juice was spray-dried under various conditions to determine the most suitable drying conditions for the manufacture of sugarcane juice powder. Initially, fresh, 30°Brix and 50°Brix sugarcane juice samples were dried in a laboratory-scale spray dryer at an air-drying temperature between 130 °C and 170 °C using maltodextrin, Arabic gum and dietary fiber as drying aids. It appeared that sugarcane juice should be concentrated under vacuum to 30°Brix and added with at least 15% maltodextrin before drying at 170 °C in order to obtain dried powder product with a low drying cost. After conducting the experiments in the laboratory, sugarcane juice powders were produced in a factory using an industrial-scale spray dryer under five drying conditions. It was found that the energy cost of industrial-scale production of sugarcane juice powder ranged between 0.77 USD and 2.06 USD per kg of powder. According to the results of the industrial-scale experiments, the sugarcane juice powder should be produced using vacuum evaporation of the sugarcane juice to 30°Brix prior to adding maltodextrin at 30% by weight and then spray drying at 190 °C.