Spray drying is a relatively gentle method used in various industries where temperature-sensitive products are handled. These products are in solution form and are fed into the spray dryer. Although the temperature inside the spray dryer is high, the short residence time makes the method still gentle.

The spray drying process consists of four steps, briefly described below:

1. Atomization of the Solution:
   The solution is atomized and finely dispersed into small droplets. This is often achieved using high gas flows combined with the solution or by passing the solution through a rapidly rotating nozzle.
2. Contact with Hot Gas:
   When the small droplets come into contact with hot gas inside the spray dryer, small particles form.
3. Evaporation of Moisture:
   The small particles dry from the surface, and it is essential for the particles to be small enough to ensure effective drying.
4. Particle Separation:
   The dry particles are separated from the gas. This separation is accomplished using cyclone separation, which utilizes centrifugal forces to collect particles in the gas. After the cyclone, any remaining small particles in the gas can be captured using bag filters.

Spray drying may need to be customized depending on the specific product to be dried, and additives or pretreatment of the material may be necessary.

RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) can assist you and your company in developing raw materials, optimizing your spray drying process, and providing expertise. We have a pilot-scale spray dryer in our food-grade facility.

The project's goal is to develop methods to produce protein isolate from peas with a low sodium and low anti-nutrients content. The protein isolates are used for the production of plant-based foods that are tasty and healthy. The project is addressing public meals, which is an excellent platform since more than three million public meals are served in Sweden every day. Thus, there is great potential for making a large and long-lasting impact on society.

Production strategies that minimise the use of sodium-based chemicals will be developed to ensure the produced protein isolates have a low content of sodium and reduced anti-nutrient content while maintaining a high protein recovery yield.  After scaling up the optimized manufacturing process, isolates are produced which are then extruded into meat analogues. The functionality of the isolates and meat analogues is evaluated with chemical and physical analyses.

Attention is paid to the sensory qualities of the protein ingredients and products due to the change in salt content, and strategies to ensure consumer liking of low salt meals using these products will be developed. The developed meals will be examined with consumers in a relevant public setting to examine the implications of low salt initiatives in plant-based products. 

In addition, the production process will be assessed on a life-cycle basis to examine the sustainability of the newly developed process. The impact of reduced salt consumption in plant-based diets will also be assessed from a nutritional perspective accounting for wider societal impacts.

The work contributes with positive effects on the environment, public health and economy:

• Lower climate impact through increased consumption of tasty and sustainable foods based on plant proteins.
• Improved public health through a reduced intake of both salt and substances that inhibit the absorption of important minerals.
• Strengthening the Swedish food system and its supply readiness through domestic cultivation and production of plant proteins.

The project is now coming to a close and we are happy to invite interested parties to attend our online seminar where the main results of the project will be presented. The seminar will be held on Tuesday, November 11, from 13:00 to 15:00. The meeting is digital and the presentations will be in English. The application form and more information about the project can be found at the following link:

Final seminar Nov 11 2025: Participants

The project is contributing to the biobased economy

A sustainable future entails a fundamental shift from how goods for basic needs are sourced and produced today. This project aims to create new value chains for industrial raw materials derived from side streams of food production.  As a result, innovative chemical products can be produced using ingredients that are biobased, locally sourced, non-seasonal, and contribute to minimal land-use. 

The project starts with sampling from side-streams generated by different process batches in mycoprotein food production. 

The importance of the project

It is important to replace fossil plastics and persistent polymers that are used in the textile industry today. This project focusses on this goal by researching biobased, biodegradable, and circular alternatives. Moreover, it is important to invest in national supply chains to produce innovative products. This allows for reduced environmental impact and benefits local businesses.  

Expected Results

The project offers increased collaboration opportunities between medium-sized enterprises and aims to create local and future-proof supply chains that will be unique in Sweden. The project will provide underpinning for scaling up extraction processes that yield biomolecules derived from new types of side-streams generated by state-of-the-art food production by fungi. Once purified, these will meet an existing demand in industry for use in biobased products that are innovative replacements for polluting, fossil-based plastics and polymers extensively used today.  

Today, the aquafeed industry faces a huge protein supply gap. The European aquafeed industry, in particular, imports over half of the protein used in their products. Skretting (with their mother company, Nutreco), a Norwegian company and the largest aquafeed producer in the world, has set a clear goal to reduce 58% of their supply chain carbon footprint by 2030. Therefore, novel and low-footprint proteins are urgently needed.

Objectives

• Develop a zero-emission process integrating thermochemical (pyrolysis) and biological (fermentation) steps;
• Scale up single-cell protein production to pilot scale;
• Investigate the suitability of the single-cell proteins and biochar for aquaculture and agriculture feed;
• Quantify carbon storage and use, assess environmental impacts and analyse the life cycle for the entire value chain – from forestry to feed production;
• Disseminate results to stakeholders, raise public awareness and develop a business plan for market entry.

VINNOVA, the Swedish Innovation Agency, granted 3.9 million SEK funding to the ProMultiFilms project (with 8.1 million SEK total project budget) — an ambitious and pioneering initiative that aims to revolutionize high-performing, fiber-based packaging. This exciting endeavor brings together distinguished industry leaders such as Stora Enso, Bioextrax, Hoting Innovations, and the Swedish state-owned research institute, RISE. Together, this formidable research and development consortium is deeply committed to addressing key challenges and driving the advancement of biobased barrier films for sustainable packaging and reducing the need for plastic-based packaging materials.

Aligned with the European strategy of phasing out single-use plastics by 2030, the main objective of the ProMultiFilms project is to develop high-performance, biobased multi-layer barrier films for fiber-based packaging. By leveraging the combined expertise and resources of the industry leaders and RISE, the project aims to generate groundbreaking knowledge and overcome technical hurdles in the production and processing of biobased barrier films. Advanced biobased barrier films will revolutionize fiber-based packaging use, for example within food industry where solid barrier properties are critical.

The collaborative efforts of the ProMultiFilms project will specifically address four key challenges within the value chain: identifying and modifying biobased raw materials, integrating innovative processes for producing multi-layered biobased high barrier films, application, and verification of films onto fiber-based packaging, and ensuring the utmost recyclability and compostability of the packaging. The ProMultiFilms project is a golden opportunity for the industry to spearhead the development of biobased barrier film and multilayer alternatives that can rival plastics in terms of both cost-effectiveness and performance.