What are vitamins?
Traditionally, vitamins were produced to protect humans against diseases caused by vitamin defi-ciency. The steadily growing industry of vitamin manufacture has found increasing markets in di-rect application to foods, in animal feeds and as nutritional supplements.
The largest vitamin manufacturers have applied GEA Niro drying installations for four decades. The design of our drying equipment is always adapted to the requirements that our customers meet in their own markets in respect to particle size, particle form, encapsulation as well as to specific production processes.
It is difficult to give specific recommendations, as to which drying method to install for each type of vitamin; however, the following general rules apply:
• Vitamin A: classical spray dryer
• Vitamin B: NOZZLE TOWERTM or MSDTM/FSDTM configuration giving a free-flowing agglomerated product
• Vitamin C: Fluid bed drying plant taking the solvent wet product directly from the crystallization stage
• Vitamin D: NOZZLE TOWERTM
• Vitamin E: Spray cooling from melt
