The Challenge:
The customer had several seasoning powders that behaved differently in a snack food coating application. These seasonings were not attaching to the snack food surfaces as desired, resulting in lower yields and poor powder utilization. The customer was interested in powder characterization to determine which properties were critical to seasoning behavior.
AVEKA Solution:
AVEKA utilized several characterization techniques to determine powder properties that could be used to predict seasoning powder behavior:
- Microscopy (optical and scanning electron microscopy) – observe agglomerate morphology and packing
- Laser light scattering – measure particle size distribution
- Free oil measurements – measure differences between good and bad seasonings
- Thermal analysis (thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic scanning calorimetry) – identify softening points and potential multicomponent mixtures
AVEKA determined that physical morphology, agglomerate structure and free oil content of seasoning powders were critical factors that could be used to predict powder stickiness, leading to higher product yields and efficient seasoning utilization.
