ENERGY OPTIMIZATION IN SPRAY DRYING OF COCONUT MILK POWDER: A TRANSPORT PHENOMENA APPROACH FOR COST-EFFECTIVE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56238/revgeov16n5-081Keywords:
Spray Drying, Coconut Milk Powder, Energy Efficiency, Transport Phenomena, Operational OptimizationAbstract
The growing demand for powdered food products, combined with rising energy costs, highlights the need for more efficient and sustainable industrial processes. In the case of coconut milk, a widely used ingredient in the food industry, there is a gap between production potential and the economic feasibility of spray drying, mainly due to high thermal energy consumption. This study aims to analyze energy optimization strategies based on Transport Phenomena to reduce costs and improve the thermal efficiency of the drying process. Thermo-energetic modeling and parametric simulations were performed to evaluate different operational scenarios, considering inlet and outlet variables, thermal losses, and process yield. The results show that integrating heat recovery, thermal insulation, and operational control increased overall efficiency from 45.2% to 67.8%, while reducing specific energy consumption from 5.30 to 3.48 kWh/kg, improving yield and reducing particle deposition. These findings indicate that relatively simple interventions can generate significant performance gains, contributing to the technical, economic, and environmental sustainability of the sector. Furthermore, the methodology developed demonstrates high potential for replication in other food matrices with similar physicochemical characteristics.
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