System for drying acid whey
AssigneeKeller Technologies, Inc.
InventorA. Kent Keller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process comprises concentrating a whey composition to at least about 75 weight % solids in one or more evaporators connected in series to form a concentrated whey composition, wherein at least one of the evaporators comprises an evaporator configured to agitate the whey composition within the at least one evaporator, crystallizing at least a portion of the lactose in the concentrated whey composition in a crystallization cascade comprising one or more crystallizing stages to form an at least partially-crystallized whey composition and drying the at least partially-crystallized whey composition to form a dried whey product.
Claims10
A system comprising:
- a supply system for supplying a first whey composition comprising lactose;
- a concentration system comprising two or more evaporators connected in series, wherein at least one of the evaporators comprises an evaporator configured to agitate the whey composition within the at least one evaporator, the two or more evaporators configured to concentrate the whey composition to form a concentrated whey composition comprising at least about 75 weight % solids;
- a crystallization system configured to receive the concentrated whey composition from the concentration system, the crystallization system comprising a crystallization cascade comprising one or more crystallizing stages configured to crystallize at least a portion of the lactose in the concentrated whey composition to form an at least partially-crystallized whey composition, wherein the crystallization system is separate from the concentration system;
- and
- a dryer configured to dry the at least partially-crystallized whey composition to form a dried product, wherein the dryer is separate from the concentration system and the crystallization system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.