Spray-Drying: A Historical Journey to Modern Innovation

Spray-drying, a method of turning liquid substances into powder, has a long history, particularly in the dairy industry. The roots of spray-drying stretch back to the early 19th century, around 1800, when the process was first applied to milk. By 1850, efforts to dry milk on a larger scale had begun, but there were major limitations. These early processes required additives like sugar, sulfuric acid, or alkali, which compromised the purity of the final product. This hindered the potential for creating a pure dried milk product that could be widely accepted.

The first significant leap in spray-drying technology came in 1901, when a German inventor, Mr. Stauf, filed one of the earliest patents. His innovation involved spraying milk through nozzles into a chamber heated by warm air, marking a crucial step toward the technology we use today. However, it wasn't until 1913 that spray-drying began to scale commercially. In the United States, the collaboration between American inventor Mr. Grey and Danish engineer Mr. Jensen led to the development of a more refined nozzle spray dryer, which enabled the commercial production of spray-drying installations.

Another major advancement came in 1912 with the creation of the first rotary atomizer by the German Mr. Kraus. Rotary atomizers revolutionized the process by allowing for finer and more uniform particles. But the most impactful breakthrough came in 1933, when Danish engineer Mr. Nyrop filed a world patent that significantly advanced atomization, setting the stage for modern spray-drying technology.

These pioneers laid the groundwork for today's sophisticated spray-drying techniques. Modern spray-drying equipment is highly advanced, using cutting-edge technology to ensure efficiency, consistency, and quality. In industries like dairy, pharmaceuticals, and food processing, spray-drying is now a critical tool for producing powdered products that retain essential nutrients and qualities. Thanks to these historical innovations, spray-drying has become an indispensable process in modern industrial production.
Spray-Drying: A Historical Journey to Modern Innovation

The invention of spray drying

The history of spray drying is traceable to a United States patent issued in 1872. The patent no 125,406 entitled ‘Improvement in Drying and Concentrating Liquid Substances by Atomizing.’

Samuel Percy was first described the principle of spray drying and he is considered to be the inventor of spray drying technology.

It took nearly 50 years for the first commercially successful spray dryer design to be developed and operated on so-called heat sensitive products.

Since that time, the spray drying process has been developed for use in a wide range of industrial applications including the manufacture of powdered soaps and detergents, powdered milk, instant coffee, corn starch, fertilizer production, powdered polymer resins and the production of mineral ores and clays.

 It has also been employed as a process technology to impart unique functional attributes onto excipients such as lactose, mannitol and micro-crystalline.

The big step forward in spray drying technology was the invention of instantization by Peebles.

Further innovations were the development of membrane methods for concentrating and fractionating prior to spray drying and the introduction of three stage drying procedure.

The invention of spray drying

History of processing milk powder spray drying

In 1295, Marco Polo reported that Mongolians boiled milk, skimmed off the fat that rose to the top to make butter and dried the defatted milk in the sun.

Now, nearly all the powdered milk produced these days for human consumption is spray dried. In spray drying, concentrated milk is sprayed into hot air, whereas foam-spray drying sends jet of hot air into concentrated milk.

The patent of spray drying was registered in 1872 in the United States. Percy described the principle of spray drying and he is considered to be inventor of spray drying technology.

The first industrial spray drying was installed in 1905 for US company by the name of Merril Soul. Rapid development of dairy industries, due to increased production of milk after World War II, brought significant improvement of milk spray driers.

Spray drying became more established during the mid 1900s and the advantages over roller drying were immediately evident in terms of the less destructive nature of thermal treatments involved.

Many inventions in the following years improved the technology of concentrated and dried dairy products.

One significant innovation in drying technology, economy and quality of the powdered products was a two stage drying, that is the instantisation method.

The dairy industry is the major food sector utilizing the spray drying technique in order to meet the ever increasing demand of dried milk products.

History of processing milk powder spray drying