Apparatus and Method for Spray-Freeze Drying (SFD) of Microalgae

Abstract

Disclosed is a spray-freeze drying (SFD) apparatus for continuous drying of microalgae. The apparatus includes a main chamber connected to a collector chamber and a compressor, designed to freeze fine droplets of microalgae and collect frozen particles. A drying chamber, positioned downstream of the main chamber, is coupled with a vacuum pump and an electromagnetic radiation source to remove moisture from the frozen microalgae, resulting in dried particles. The dried microalgae are then collected in a designated collection chamber. Additionally, a method is disclosed for continuous drying of microalgae using the SFD apparatus. The method involves spraying microalgae suspension as fine droplets towards a cold surface particle collector in the main chamber, freezing and collecting the particles, transferring them to the drying chamber, and removing moisture through the activation of the electromagnetic radiation source and vacuum pump, followed by collecting the dried microalgae in the collection chamber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.