Flavor and Fragrance Printing Drying System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for drying high intensity flavors and fragrances, such as vacuum tray drying and spray drying, face limitations including long processing times, high temperatures, dust explosion risks, and viscosity constraints, which affect quality and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for printing and drying flavors and fragrances directly onto a movable conveyor belt using a print assembly and drying component, allowing for gentle drying conditions and increased flavor/fragrance loading by avoiding viscosity constraints and dust explosion hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If vacuum tray drying is used, then high flavor loading is achieved, but processing time increases and temperature requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional vacuum tray drying mechanical system with a spray drying system that uses high-velocity air flow and atomization to achieve rapid moisture removal. This substitution enables high flavor loading to be achieved in significantly reduced processing time by transforming the drying mechanism from thermal diffusion in vacuum to forced convection with atomized spray.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes phase transition of water from liquid to vapor through rapid evaporation in the spray drying process. By atomizing the flavor solution into fine droplets and exposing them to hot air, the water rapidly transitions to vapor phase, enabling quick drying while maintaining high flavor concentration in the resulting particles.
2Productivity
If spray drying is used, then processing time is reduced and cost effectiveness increases, but flavor loading is limited due to dust explosion risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes critical parameters of the spray drying process, including operating at controlled temperatures below the dust explosion threshold, optimizing spray atomization to create larger droplet sizes that reduce dust formation, and adjusting air flow patterns to prevent dust cloud accumulation. These parameter modifications enable higher flavor loading in spray-dried products while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the potential harm of dust explosion risk into a benefit by using the spray drying process to create free-flowing granular products with controlled morphology. The rapid drying and particle formation actually reduce dust generation compared to conventional methods, while the process parameters are optimized to eliminate explosion hazards entirely.
3Quantity of substance
If vacuum tray drying is used, then high flavor loading is achieved, but system footprint increases and manual labor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual tray loading and unloading mechanical operations with an automated spray drying system. The flavor solution is pumped and atomized automatically, and the dried granular product is collected in a continuous process, eliminating the need for manual tray handling while achieving high flavor loading in the final product.
Solution Approach 2:
The spray drying system is designed to be self-operating with automatic feed pumping, spray atomization, drying, and product collection. The process requires minimal manual intervention once started, as the system self-regulates the drying parameters and product formation, thereby reducing manual labor requirements while maintaining high flavor concentration.
4Productivity
If spray drying is used, then manual labor is reduced and cost effectiveness increases, but flavor loading is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes spray drying parameters including increasing the concentration of flavor solution fed to the atomizer, adjusting spray pressure and nozzle design to control droplet size distribution, and optimizing drying chamber temperature and air flow patterns. These parameter changes enable the automated system to produce particles with significantly higher flavor loading while maintaining continuous operation and low manual labor requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the production of high-quality, dried flavor and fragrance products with increased volatile compound retention and higher flavor/fragrance loading, while reducing processing time and energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the flavor or fragrance is dried on the movable product conveyor to produce a dried product
Implementation Method 2
a supplemental energy source (e.g. a radiant heat source), for facilitating drying of the printed flavor or fragrance
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for printing and drying flavors and fragrances is provided. The system and method include a source of flavor or fragrance, a print assembly adapted to print the flavor or fragrance, a movable product conveyor that directly receives the printed flavor or fragrance and a drying component. As the movable product conveyor passes through or adjacent to the drying component, the printed flavor or fragrance is dried thereby providing a free-flowing flavor or fragrance product.