ABSTRACT
Spray drying is a relatively, highly versatile drying technology enabling the transformation of a liquid feed into a dry powder. This chapter provides an overview of spray drying, its principles, advantages, and limitations, the components and configurations of spray dryers, the applications of spray drying in the food industry, as well as advances in spray-drying processes and optimization which stimulate the development of novel foods and ingredients. Spray drying consists four main steps, namely, atomization of the liquid feed into the drying chamber, contact between the spray and a stream of hot air, evaporation of moisture from the droplets, and separation of the dried particles. The advantages of spray drying relate to the unique characteristics of spray-dried products and of the process itself as compared to other drying methods. Spray dryers are available in different configurations and layouts. They can be classified based on flow type, drying stage number, air cycling type, as well as dimensions of the spray-drying chamber.
