High-Fat Powder Manufacturing via Encapsulation and Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing high-fat powdered substances, such as milk substitutes, face challenges with agglomeration and limited fat content due to fat crystallization and storage instability, especially at higher temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a fat-rich core surrounded by a shell of solid, powdered carrier material, where the carrier material is chosen to remain non-sticky and prevent agglomeration, with mechanical mixing and pneumatic discharge in a spray tower using an inert gas, ensuring high mechanical stability and homogeneity, and a device with a mixing mechanism to create a dense carrier material coat around the fat-rich core.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the fat content is increased to achieve higher nutrient content, then the nutritional value is improved, but the powder tends to agglomerate and processing becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fat-rich substance into individual particles that are coated with carrier material, preventing agglomeration by keeping fat particles separate and encapsulated rather than allowing them to clump together in bulk
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier material acts as an intermediary substance between the fat-rich particles, providing a stable matrix that prevents direct contact between fat particles and maintains powder flowability and stability
2Quantity of substance
If the fat content is increased beyond 50% using known methods, then the nutritional value is improved, but the mixture no longer leaves the mixer in powder form
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the fat component by cooling it to below its melting point, transforming it from a liquid/soft state that causes clumping into a solidified state that maintains powder form and enables easy discharge from the mixer
Solution Approach 2:
The fat is pre-cooled and solidified before mixing with the carrier material, ensuring that the fat is in a stable solid state during the mixing and discharge process, preventing premature softening or clumping
3Ease of manufacture
If the fat is on the surface of the solids as in known methods, then the mixing process is simplified, but the product tends to agglomerate during storage and transport, particularly at higher temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier material is pre-cooled to below the melting point of the fat before mixing, ensuring that the mixing process occurs at temperatures where the fat remains solid and stable, preventing agglomeration during both manufacturing and subsequent storage
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temperature parameter throughout the process to maintain the fat in a solid state, using pre-cooled carrier material and controlled mixing temperatures to ensure storage stability while simplifying the mixing process
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
The method achieves a stable, high-fat powder with unrestricted flowability and reduced agglomeration, even at high fat contents and elevated temperatures, maintaining pourability and storage stability.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling section (4) with a cold gas, in which a liquid medium rich in fat is sprayed
Implementation Method 2
solid particles of carrier material are sprayed into the cooling section (4) in a gas stream opposing the gas stream of the liquid medium; the particles of carrier material adhere to the droplets
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
According to the prior art, powdered, high-fat substances, for example, animal feed, especially milk substitutes, are produced in powder form and mixed with water to form milk before use. The fat content of the powdered feed is limited to less than 50% by weight, as higher fat content causes the feed to agglomerate. The process according to the invention leads to a powdered substance with a preferred fat content of over 50% by weight, consisting of microparticles with a high-fat core and a coating of a low-fat, powdered carrier material. The production preferably takes place such that a liquid, high-fat medium is cooled in a cooling tower to a temperature close to its condensation temperature. Simultaneously, cold carrier material is blown into the cooling tower from below.The particles of the carrier material adhere to the surface of the droplets of the fat-rich medium and cool them below their condensation temperature; at the same time, the particles themselves adhere firmly. Subsequent thorough mixing surrounds the fat-rich cores with a fat-free layer, which prevents the formation of agglomerations.