Whey to go

Tixotherm, the new breakthrough from Niro that makes the processing of crystallized and non-caking whey and whey permeate powder easier, has been installed in the Niro test centre in Copenhagen allowing potential users to evaluate the technology. The Tixotherm process is designed specifically for the efficient processing of whey and permeate powder – powders in demand all over the world as a valuable food additive, for sport beverages and bakery products.
Traditional permeate drying technology has inherent problems of low capacity, high energy costs, high capital investment in large plants and potentially high environmental costs. The Tixotherm process, however, is more efficient.
The challenge is to create a free-flowing, non-caking powder from the liquid whey or permeate. This is difficult because some of these whey-based products tend to be hygroscopic and thermoplastic. They tend to absorb water from the surrounding atmosphere and become sticky, making powder rock solid.
The four-stage Tixotherm process converts the liquid whey product into a free-flowing, non-caking powder. After the normal pre-concentration in an evaporator the water content of the whey or permeate concentrate is further decreased in an agitated film concentrator resulting in a water content of just 15 per cent. High sheer rates within the concentrator keep the viscosity of the product paste low owing to its thixotropic nature. The product passes to a mixing crystallizer that increases the dry matter content, encourages rapid lactose crystallization and creates
a semi-hard crystalline paste with a friable texture, easy to particulate. The plant is compact saving approximately 50 per cent in building size. Comparisons have shown that the Tixotherm process consumes less than 70 per cent of the energy of the traditional ‘wet process’.