Falling curtain agglomerators

As the name implies, this technique involves the formation of a falling curtain of powder into which is directed a jet of steam, water spray or mist to wet and agglomerate the product. Small, cluster-type agglomerators are formed. 

These systems are commonly used in the agglomeration of powdered food products. Fine particles are contacted, after their surfaces are made sticky in a controlled manner, to form clusters. After drying and cooling, the clusters have a coarse, porous structure which improves the wettability, dispersibility 

Coffee substitute Skim milk Whole milk Filled milk Baby food 

Banana/sugar Strawberry/sugar/milk Instant starch Ice cream mix Alginates 

The Blaw-Knox Instantizer-Agglomerator [21], which is used to cluster-agglomerate a wide range of food products, can be taken as representative of 

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Fig. 4.7. Schematic diagram of internal configuration of constant density falling curtain agglomerator [15].

C.A. Sumner and E. O Brien, Constant density falling curtain agglomeration of detergents and other materials, in K.V.S. Sastry (Ed.), Agglomeration 77, AIME, New York, 1977, pp. 835-846. 

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