Spray drying is a key step in many industries, and in particular in the food processing industry. It is a process in which water is evaporated from a product, without altering its essential characteristics. Traditionally, a standard technology called ‘Spray Dryer’ has been used to carry out this transformation, a method that produces dry powder from a liquid using rapid drying with a hot gas.

Other variants to standard drying were developed empirically over long periods of time, often by small drying equipment vendors with little access to research and development. Most new drying technologies, which evolved through a process of progressive technological improvements, were built to compensate for some or all of the limitations faced in the operation of conventional dryers.

This project aims to demonstrate advanced drying using Pulsed Combustion Drying (PCD) technology to companies in the Catalan sector and therefore its applicability to different products for human food and animal feed by-products.

IRTA Monells wants to carry out demonstration sessions to transfer the advantages and opportunities to companies interested in drying food and/or animal feed products. Through the demonstration activity, the companies will see the applicability of the PCD to different types of products and will find out what conditioning factors exist and what types of studies must be carried out to validate the technological process.

The general objective of the activity is the demonstration in the agri-food industry of an advanced drying technology available on the market, to promote the introduction of PCD technology in the Catalan agri-food sector by making known the advantages and opportunities offered by this technology as well as the effect of its application in a selection of pre-selected products.