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Production of instant foods by jet

agglomeration

Article in Food Control · April 1995

DOI: 10.1016/0956-7135(95)98912-K

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Review

The Production of Instant Foods by Jet Agglomeration

Harald Schuchmann

DERECO Lebensmittelforschung GmbH

Franckstraße 8

0-71636 Ludwigsburg
Germany

Summary

In the food industry, jet agglomeration plants have been widely used for
several years now to produce agglomerates with favourable instant
properties from fine powders. The process is suitable for all foodstuffs
containing water-soluble substances when wetted as well as for mixtures
of other powders with the before mentioned. Short average residence time
and narrow residence time distribution allow processing of materials
containing volatile components.

In a jet agglomeration plant, freely falling particles are wetted by turbulent

free jets of steam. Colliding wetted particles form agglomerates, provided
their relative kinetic energy can be dissipated by the viscous liquid layers
on the particles' surfaces.

This paper gives a short overview over the basic principles of

agglomeration and deals with the mechanisms underlying the jet
agglomeration process. The process is described as conducted in the
author's pilot plant. Based on experimental results and calculations some
general information for plant design is provided.
Agglomeration fundamentals

The term 'agglomeration' is used for processes causing particle size

enlargement by joining small 'primary' particles. Often these particles are
created or altered in size in a milling process. The purpose of the
agglomeration is to improve certain properties of a disperse system. In the
case of solids, such properties as bulk density, trickling ability (i. e. ability
to flow freely), dispensability, inclination to component separation or dust
formation are of main interest. Foodstuffs intended to be dispersed in liquid
should furthermore have good instant properties, i. e. good wettability,
sinkability, dispersibility and (if the solids are soluble) solubility (Schubert,
1993). Some agglomeration processes are suited to improve instant
properties.

lt is easily recognised that improving one product property (e. g. hardness

or stability of an agglomerate) can be detrimental to another (e. g.
dispersibility). These properties are largely determined by the way the
agglomerates are formed in the course of the process employed, so that
knowledge of the basic mechanisms causing particle size enlargement in a
certain appliance is indispensable. Understanding the basic physical
principles of particle adhesion and knowing which mechanisms are likely to
predominate a certain process, one can have a good idea of the
prospective product.

To join primary particles, firstly the particles have to be brought into

contact with each other, which is usually achieved by outer force(s).
Secondly, adhesion forces between these particles stronger than any
possibly existing separating force(s), must be permanently established.

Duration and intensity of these forces have an important influence upon

agglomerate porosity and stability. A process during which a particle
population is subjected to strong joining and separating forces for a longer
period while being thoroughly mixed, will probably turn out dense, smooth,
and stable agglomerates that can be handled and dispensed well. On the
other hand, instant properties will be quite poor, and the spread of the
primary particle size distribution may have increased due to erosion, while
more porous agglomerates mainly tend to shatter.

The essential mechanisms of adhesion between solids (Fig. 1) have

repeatedly been published (Rumpf, 1974 and Schubert, 1979). Dry
agglomeration of fine powders frequently occurs due to van-der-Waals
forces (which always exist between solids) and due to electrostatic forces
(charge separation e. g. during milling, after spray drying or conveyance).

The commonly used agglomeration processes can be divided into three

groups (Fig. 2):

a) pressure agglomeration (e.g. tableting),

b) growth agglomeration (e.g. granulation, pelleting),

c) agglomeration by drying (e.g. spray drying).

Depending on whether or not a binder liquid is involved in the process,

groups a) and b) can be subdivided into 'wet' and 'dry' agglomeration
methods. Each method exploits certain binding mechanisms (see Ennis et
al., 1991 for granulation).

For wet growth agglomeration processes often the term "granulation" is

used. Characteristically granulation starts by spraying water on top of bulk
material in motion (e.g. drum agglomeration). This leads to local saturation
of the interparticle space and to a high overall water content of up to 20 %
wt./wt..

Jet agglomeration is a continuous process which has been used in the

food industry for several years now (Jensen, 1975, Nestec S.A., 1985,
General Foods, 1986). Typical applications are instant beverages intended
for reconstitution with cold and hot water or milk. The material to be
agglomerated should preferably be water-soluble. Insoluble or water-
repellent substances can be processed if mixed with a sufficient amount of
water-soluble material such as sucrose or monosaccharides. Furthermore,
the wettability of hydrophobic substances can be improved by adding a
surface-active agent, e. g., in the case of cocoa powder, lecithin. Thus, a
wide variety of substances - not necessarily restricted to foodstuffs - is
suitable for granulation and instantisation by this process (Lührs and
Wachsmuth, 1976). Unequal to usual granulation for jet agglomeration
each single particle is wetted quite homogeneously, usually not exceeding
4 % wt./wt. of free flowing water (not bound in a crystalline or amorphous
structure).

As far as instant properties are concerned, most agglomeration processes

operate under unfavourable conditions, namely high bulk densities and
high interparticle forces. Continuous processes often involve long average
residence times and broad residence time distributions, which may cause
poor product quality due to the evaporation of volatile components such as
flavours. The jet agglomeration process in contrast combines short
average residence time with narrow residence time distribution, but is
limited in bulk density, which rarely exceeds 450 g/I.

The jet agglomeration process

In a jet agglomeration plant, particles enter the agglomeration zone in free

fall, either as a swarm of primary particles with no contact between each
other, or more often as dry agglomerates kept together e. g. by van-der-
VVaals or electrostatic forces.

In this zone, the particles' surfaces are wetted by steam which is injected
either from coaxial or parallel vents into the particles' path. The pressure
drop after exiting from the vents and mixing with cold air causes steam
supersaturation and consequent condensation on product and dust
particles. Droplets formed by condensation on dust particles can in turn
collide with primary particles or agglomerates, so that in fact two different
mechanisms contribute to the wetting process: the condensation of steam
on cold particle surfaces and the collision of particles with droplets from
condensed steam.

White wetting by condensation is very effective, it can only occur as long

as the particle's surface temperature lies below the equilibrium
temperature corresponding to the prevailing relative humidity. For this
reason, the particles' entry temperature has an important influence on the
condensation process (Szembek, Schuchmann and Schubert, 1992). The
lower the entry temperature, the faster the condensation on the particles'
surface, and the higher the agglomerates' final water content, which is
favourable. Wetting by collision with droplets occurs, naturally, as long as
the particles remain inside the agglomeration zone. The disadvantage of
wetting particles solely by droplets is a more uneven water distribution on
the particles' surface.

An alternative method to wet particles would be to create droplets by

spraying. As widely known and recently published in detail (Dahl, 1992;
Sommerfeld et al, 1992 and 1993), spray cones show a broad distribution
of droplet sizes. Droplets with equal sizes to particles lead to high water
contents, solvating most soluble substances. A recrystallisation of these
substances will create dense agglomerates with poor instant properties if
not intolerable lumps because of an insufficient drying.

By condensation of steam and collision with droplets, a liquid layer

develops on the particles' surface. When wetting water-soluble particles,
some of their substance dissolves in this layer. The layer's viscosity
increases, making the surface sticky. This stickiness depends on the ratio
between the kinetics of wetting and solubility as well as the temperature of
the layer. Since the agglomeration zone is being turbulently mixed by the
steam jets, collisions between particles occur frequently. Provided that the
liquid spreads fast enough and the particles' relative kinetic energy is
sufficiently reduced by the deformation of the liquid layers, colliding
particles stick together, joined by a viscous liquid bridge. Soluble
substances are dissolving up to saturation.

lt should be noted that this is not equivalent to the usual description of the
term 'stick'ness' as given in literature (Harte!, 1993, Roos and Karel, 1991
a and b) when referring to a rubbery state. Sugar being in a rubbery state
plays an important role for agglomeration processes with longer contact
times (Roth, 1982), but it is not relevant to jet agglomeration.

If the feed contains dry agglomerates, e. g. fines bound together by van-

der-Waals forces, these agglomerates also take up water according to the
mechanisms mentioned above, and liquid bridges between primary
particles develop, further stabilising these agglomerates.

After an average residence time ranging from 1 to 2 seconds, the particles

leave the agglomeration zone and enter the drying zone. Drying of the
aggloinerates causes crystallisation of soluble substances in the liquid
bridges joining the primary particles, finally turning the liquid bridges into
solid ones. Depending on the drying rate and temperature, these bridges
may consist of an amorphous structure. In any case, the agglomerates
formed by collision in the wetting zone as well as any agglomerates having
entered with the feed are stabilised (Fig. 3). Amorphous structures will
recrystallise with dispose of water during storage and may cause caking
(Roth, 1982).

The agglomerates produced by jet agglomeration have good instant

properties due to high granule porosity. Their trickling ability is satisfying,
and agglomerate strength is high enough to prevent erosion or shattering
during transportation or dispensing.

The formation of agglomerates in a jet agglomeration device therefore

depends on the collision frequency and the relative velocity distribution
within the agglomeration zone, as well as on the amount and size of dry
pre-agglomerates. Collision frequency and relative velocity distribution in
turn depend on a great number of process variables and material
properties.

Description of the pilot plant and in-line measuring device

To investigate the jet agglomeration process, a pilot plant (Fig. 4) was

constructed, consisting of a 2 m high vertical duct, 0.4 x 0.4 m2 cross-
section. A heated agglomeration nozzle with three parallel outlets (at
centre the particle feed surrounded by steam orifices) was placed atop the
duct, fed by a dispensing device capable of supplying up to 4 kg of powder
per minute. To assure a constant flow of air downward the powder feed
inlet, a variable amount of steam and air could be withdrawn from the
agglomeration zone through two outlets on top of the duct connected to a
speed-regulated fan. This air flow was required to prevent steam from
rising up the powder feed inlet, wetting the feed before entering the
agglomeration zone and thus causing a congestion by wet material
sticking to the walls of the vent and the outlet of the dispensing device.

At the bottom end of the duct, an inclined vibrating sieve was used to
collect the agglomerates. Heated air was blown through this sieve from
below to provide additional drying and also to prevent agglomerates from
baking together or clogging the outlet. Additional drying (or, respectively,
an increased height of the drying zone) was necessary in some
experiments, especially when feeding cold powders to increase water
uptake by condensation.

The construction allowed the taking of samples from the product stream at
different heights, e. g. above and below the agglomeration zone. The size
distribution of these samples was determined by a particle sizing device
using laser diffraction. At low particle concentrations, in-line particle size
analysis was possible, allowing immediate determination of the influence
of varying process parameters on the particle size distribution at various
locations. For this purpose, the laser transmitter and receiver were
attached to the duct facing each other through opposite sampling openings
(Schuchmann and Schubert, 1993).

Experimental investigations

A variety of powder mixtures were studied in the course of the

experiments. These mixtures were mainly composed of sugar, e.g.
sucrose, to which common ingredients of powdered beverages, such as
coffee extract or cocoa powder, were added. Cocoa powder is not soluble
in water, but can be processed (as was mentioned before) if treated with
lecithin and added to a suitable water-soluble material such as sugar.
Composition of the mixtures varied in concentration of the ingredients, as
well as in the ingredients' particle size distribution.
Variation of feed material properties, process parameters, and, to a limited
extent, plant geometry allowed a detailed study of the jet agglomeration
process (Schuchmann, 1993).

Ground sugar particles as well as native sugar crystals showed reduced

trickling ability below certain values of the maximum particle diameter. The
reason for this was dry agglomeration caused by electrostatic and van-der-
Waals forces. Since the surfaces of sugar particles are not curved but
consist of numerous plain faces, the contact areas between sugar particles
(or any other crystals, for that matter) can be quite large. Therefore, the
attractive forces can outweigh the separating forces even for bigger
particles (up to a particle diameter of 200 pm max. in case of ground
sugar).

For example (Schuchmann and Schubert, 1993), ground sugar particles of

120 pm average diameter (measured after suspending the particles in
acetone to reduce the attractive forces) formed dry agglomerates of about
890 pm average diameter (measured while falling undisturbedly through
air). These brittle agglomerates could be substantially reduced in size by
placing a vibrating sieve between dispenser and feed inlet, although dry
agglomeration occurred again immediately when leaving the sieve.
Depending upon the velocity of the air flowing through the feed inlet, i. e.,
the degree of turbulence and wall friction in this area, the dry agglomerates
could be further reduced in size before entering the agglomeration zone
(as a matter of fact, almost to the size of the primary particles). In the
agglomeration zone, the particle size increased again by wet
agglomeration. Fig. 5 shows the changes in the particle size distribution. In
this case the final product's average particle diameter was actually much
smaller than that of the dry agglomerates fed into the process. lt should be
noted that this wet agglomeration is very much influenced by the particles'
concentration, which was very low for this experiment. The desired effects
of the jet agglomeration treatment under these operating conditions were
a) a reduction of fines and b) agglomerate stabilisation to prevent erosion.

An example for changes in particle temperature and moisture content

under operating conditions different from those mentioned above is shown
in Fig. 6 (Schuchmann, 1993). Primary particles of 90 pm average size,
mostly in the form of dry agglomerates of about 900 pm size, were fed into
the plant. Air flow through the feed duct was adjusted to allow the survival
of most of these dry agglomerates, and wet agglomeration inside the plant
then led to the production of agglomerates of 1800 pm average size. The
influence of particle size can be judged by comparing the curves
representing the surviving smaller particles with the curves for wet
agglomerates. lt should be noted that the moisture content never exceeds
3 % wt./wt..

Feed material containing ingredients other than sugar, e. g. cocoa, could

be agglomerated for a wide range of concentration ratios. Under certain
conditions, the sugar content could be lowered to 50 per cent, while the
agglomerate quality was still satisfying. Addition of water-insoluble
components, e. g. cocoa, created either agglomerates consisting of sugar
and imbedded cocoa particles for equal sizes, or sugar particles coated
with cocoa if sugar particles were mixed with smaller ones. Feed material
had to be mixed thoroughly to obtain agglomerates with uniform
distribution of the components, since there was insufficient wide-range
mixing inside the feed inlet or the agglomeration zone.

The following table shows primary particle size, dry agglomerate size
(before jet agglomeration) and wet agglomerate size (after jet
agglomeration) for some of the materials and mixtures investigated
(Schuchmann, Hogekamp and Schubert, 1993). The addition of non-sugar
components did not significantly lower the size of the dry agglomerates
compared to pure sugar of the same average particle size.

Plant design and operation

The experiments conducted showed that in the case of sugar-based

agglomerates (as for monosaccharides), dry pre-agglomeration of the feed
material has a substantial influence on the particle size distribution of the
product, whereas the most important effect of wet agglomeration is the
significant reduction of fines. This is most useful when making instant
 IG

products, since fines not only diminish a powder's trickling ability and
dispensability, but also worsen its instant properties considerably. Wetting
and subsequent drying in the jet agglomeration device is also required for
the stabilisation of the pre-agglomerates, as was already mentioned
above.

The average particle size of the dry agglomerates entering the plant
should therefore be controlled by suitably pre-processing the feed material.
Together with the ability to form the desired dry agglomerates, sufficient
dispensability and the avoidance of segregation (de-mixing) should be of
interest at this point of the process. These properties are determined by
the size distribution and the shape of the primary particles, which, in turn,
can be adjusted separately for each component by suitable equipment.

The process parameters of the jet agglomeration plant can then be

adjusted with regard to fines reduction and stabilisation of the dry
agglomerates. The water uptake should be kept as low as possible, i. e.
well below 5 % wt./wt., to minimise the required length of the drying zone
and energy costs. This limit is automatically considered for practicable
particle feed temperatures when using steam for wetting.

Plant height can be roughly calculated by calculating the average

residence time inside the agglomeration zone required for sufficient
wetting (Fig. 7) and the average residence time inside the drying zone
required for sufficient moisture reduction to prevent caking. Particle
velocity can be estimated by controlling feed particle (dry agglomerate)
size and assuming moderate size enlargement. The effective length of the
agglomeration zone can be adjusted during the process by varying the
steam input. In the pilot plant mentioned before, the highest steam flow
rate was 10 kg/h.

Conclusion
Jet agglomeration is a process suitable for the agglomeration of a wide
variety of materials containing one or more water-soluble components and
is therefore not restricted to foodstuff only. A basically simple plant design
is utilised for the continuous production of porous agglomerates with
favourable instant properties, and the often unwanted effect of dry
agglomeration of fine powders is exploited by stabilising these weak dry
agglomerates. The size enlargement effect of the jet agglomeration
process mainly depends an particles' concentration, providing at least a
reduction of fines.

Although jet agglomeration devices have been used in the food industry for
several years, information an plant design and process conditions for
specific purposes has been published very rarely yet (to the author's
knowledge). Even though calculations based an heat and mass transfer
can give a fairly thorough estimation needed to design an agglomeration
plant, a lot of fine tuning has to be done. Future research work has to close
the gap between nowadays' calculations of single free jets to the more
complex reality of mixed steam and particle jet combined with
agglomeration and condensation effects.

References

Dahl, H. D. (1992) Theoretische und experimentelle Untersuchungen zur

Flüssigkeitszerstäubung mit Hohlkegeldüsen. Fortschr-Ber. VDI Reihe 3
Nr. 302.

Ennis, B., Tardos, G. and Pfeffer, R. (1991) A microlevel-based

characterization of granulation phenomena. Powder Technology 65, pp
257-272.

General Food (1986) Patent EP 0 195 574 A2.

Harte', R. W. (1993) Controlling Sugar Crystallization in Food Products.

Food Technology 47, pp. 99-107.

Jensen, J. D. (1975) Same Recent Advances in Agglomerating,

Instantizing, and Spray Drying. Food Technology 29, pp. 60- 71.

Lührs, G. and Wachsmuth, F. (1976) Agglomeration in der Dampfphase.

Gordian 3, pp. 83 - 86.
Nestec S. A. (1985) Patent CH 550 605.

Roos, Y. and Karel, M. (1991a) Applying State Diagrams to Food

Processing and Development. Food Technology 45, pp. 66-71, 107.

Roos, Y. and Karel, M. (1991b) Phase transitions of amorphous sucrose

and frozen sucrose solutions. J. Food ScL 56, pp. 266-272.

Roth, D., Ph.D. Thesis, Karlsruhe University, 1982.

Rumpf, H. (1974) Die Wissenschaft des Agglomerierens. Chem.-Ing. Tech.

46, pp. 1 -11.

Schubert, H. (1979) Grundlagen des Agglomerierens Chem,-Ing. Tech. 51,

pp. 266 - 277.

Schubert, H. (1993) lnstantization of powdered food products Int. Chem.

Eng. 30, pp. 28 - 45.

Schuchmann, H., PhD Thesis, Karlsruhe University , Germany, 1993.

Schuchmann, H. and Schubert, H. (1993) In-Line Particle Size

Determination for Jet Agglomeration Processes. Part. Part. Syst. Charact.
10, pp. 74-78.

Schuchmann, H., Hogekamp, S.and Schubert, H. (1993) Jet

agglomeration processes for instant foods. Trends in Food Science &
Technology 4, pp. 179-183.

Sommerfeld, M. and Qiu, H.-H. (1992) Particle Concentration

Measurements in Complex Two-Phase Flows using Phase-Doppler
Anemometry in Preprints of the 5. European Symposium Particle
Characterization at Nuremberg, pp. 293-308.

Sommerfeld. M., Qiu, H.-H., Rüger, M., Kohnen, G., Spies, P. J. and
Müller, D. (1993) Spay evaporation in turbulent flow in Engineering
Turbulence Modelling and Experimentals 2 (Ed.: Rodi, W.and Martelli,
F.)Elsevier Sci. Pub.

Szembek, M., Schuchmann, H. and Schubert, H. (1992) Einfluß des

Wärme- und Stofftransportes auf das Agglomerierergebnis bei der
Strahlagglomeration. Wissenschaftliche Abschlußberichte, 27.
Internationales Seminar für Forschung und Lehre in
Chemieingenieurwesen, Technischer Chemie, Universität (T. H.) Karlsruhe,
pp. 56 - 69.
Table: Mean particle sizes of dry and wet agglomerates depending on
primary particle size and recipe (Schuchmann, 1993).

Mean particie
size (pm)

Recipe Primary particles Dry VVet

agglomerates+ agglomerates++
(Product)

Sugar <80 890 1830

80 - 140 870 1580

20 % < 80 860 1620

80 % 280 - 400

280 - 400 420 1080

Sugar, <80 720 890

20% cacao
added

Sugar, <80 600 1350

20% coffee
extract added

+ Measured by laser diffraction

++ Measured by image analysis
Illustrations

Fig. 1: Mechanisms of adhesion between solid material.

Fig. 2: Systematic order of agglomeration processes.

Fig. 3: Mechanism of jet agglomeration

Fig. 4:,,1 & I sketch for a jet agglomeration plant.

Fig. 5: Changes in the particle size distribution of a sieve fraction (80 - 160
pm) of sucrose crystalls during processing.

Fig. 6: Calculated water content and temperature for a particle, dry

agglomerate and wet agglomerate with a surface temperature of 0°C when
feeded.

Fig. 7: Influence of steam mass flow rate on wetting of particles and

agglomerates.
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