European SprayDry Technologies Flying the Flag
Spray dryer manufacturer, European SprayDry Technologies (ESDT) has received the Queens Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2015, following several years of continuous growth. The company based in Harlow Essex, United Kingdom is the only remaining UK manufacturer of large production spray dryers.
The award is testament to the steady expansion of ESDT’s overseas markets that has seen export sales increase considerably. Over 70% of its equipment is purchased and installed overseas. However, ESDT last year enjoyed its best sales performance in its home market for nearly a decade.
Foundation of Success
The foundation of this success has been based upon the quality of its products, a progressive design ethos and flexible working relationship between company, suppliers and clients, which has been reflected in a high percentage of repeat orders from returning customers.
The main markets for ESDT spray dryers are the food, dairy and chemical sectors. Gareth Hine, head of the company’s sales team, states: “The Ingredient and drink industry has been very important to us – spray dryers uniquely designed for specific industry environments, new falling film evaporator designs and an expansion of our auxiliary products has helped fuel growth. The dairy sector is also of strategic importance as growth in this area has been very strong and which we see continuing for the foreseeable future. A high proportion of our new equipment has been developed specifically for this industry.”
Specialist Drying Technology
Although many dryers supplied to the dairy industry are for the production of milk powders, ESDT’s expertise within this field is the design and manufacture of specialist drying technology for high value products with the majority of plants supplied today having evaporative capacities between 500 and 3000kg/hr. Materials produced on ESDT’s equipment besides whole and skim milk include protein concentrates, whey, specialist milk formulas, lactose and waste material processing. Specialist milk formulas have been produced with both cows and goats milk as its base materials.
With an ever increasing portfolio of plant and machinery the company now produces a high proportion of the component parts for its complete dairy powder production systems. Since the introduction of evaporator technology into the company’s product portfolio, ESDT has increasingly supplied wet side process as well as dry process design. Wet processing has included pasteurisation and crystallisation systems.
ESDT’s core product remains the spray dryer, which is continually developed keeping abreast of changes to technology and standards. The tall form spray dryer is the company’s flagship product that comes in several variants for single or multi stage drying and utilising on most systems high pressure nozzle atomisation technology aiding versatility and performance.
The most recent innovation has seen the development of large particle powder production and plug flow drying systems for special products.
The dairy spray dryer range supports numerous safety features that include deluge systems for fire and burst panels for explosion protection as a standard but can include suppression systems and carbon monoxide monitoring of gases.
Dairy Projects
Dairy drying projects now generally require a combination of cyclone and bag filter separation technology, maximising the removal of fine powder from the exhaust air stream. Recovered powders are reintroduced back into the drying chamber where they intermixed with the liquid feed particles forming agglomerates.
Many modern dairy production techniques require additional stages to the spray drying process. In many cases the fluid bed is the ideal partner for the process as it is extremely versatile allowing options for secondary drying, cooling, chilling and classifying within the same plant and when fitted with spraying facilities allows the addition of lecithin or binders for agglomeration.
ESDT anticipates that the recognition as marked by the prestigious Queens Award will further drive demands for its products both domestically and overseas.
