Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Effect of powder properties and storage conditions on the

flowability of milk powders with different fat contents
a,*
J.J. Fitzpatrick , T. Iqbal a, C. Delaney a, T. Twomey a, M.K. Keogh b

a
Department of Process Engineering, University College, Cork, Ireland
b
Teagasc, National Dairy Products Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Received 22 June 2003; accepted 11 November 2003

Abstract
Consistent reliable flow of milk powders out of hoppers and silos is very important in their handling and processing. Shear cell
techniques were applied in this work to measure and compare the flow properties of a commercial skim-milk powder (SMP), a whole
milk powder (WMP) and a 73% high fat milk powder (HFP), and to investigate how storage temperature and exposure to moisture
in air affected the flowability of these powders. These techniques were also applied to investigate how powder particle size and free-
fat content affected the flowability of a number of milk powders produced at pilot-scale. WMP and HFP were cohesive powders
while SMP was easy flow, but SMP showed greater wall friction on the stainless steel material tested. Cohesion of SMP and WMP
increased with storage temperature in the range of 5–25
C. Likewise, the cohesion of HFP increased from 5 to 20
C, but decreased
at 30 and 40
C although it became very sticky at 60
C. Exposure of the powders to moisture in air at 46% relative humidity and 20

C showed a major increase in the cohesion of SMP, but had little effect on WMP and HFP. Decreasing particle size from 240 to
59 lm produced a major increase in cohesion of 26% fat milk powders. A similar effect was found with 1% fat milk powders,
however decreasing particle size from 199 to 96 lm had no effect on the cohesion of 50% fat milk powders. Varying free-fat content
had no major effect on the cohesion of 26% fat milk powders at 20
C.
 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Powder flowability; Milk powders; Cohesion

1. Introduction the flow pattern inside the silo. The worst-case scenario
is no flow. This can occur when the powder forms a
There is a large quantity and variety of dairy ingre- cohesive arch across the opening, which has sufficient
dients produced industrially in powder form, and there strength within the arch to be self-supporting. Mass flow
is a need for information about their handling and is the ideal flow pattern where all the powder is in mo-
processing characteristics. Powder property measure- tion and moving downwards towards the opening.
ment is important because these properties intrinsically Funnel flow is where powder starts moving out through
affect powder behaviour during storage, handling and a central ‘‘funnel’’ that forms within the material, after
processing. Powder flow properties are important in which the powder against the walls collapse and move
handling and processing operations, such as flow from through the funnel. This process continues until the silo
hoppers and silos, transportation, mixing, compression empties or until another no flow scenario occurs with
and packaging (Knowlton, Carson, Klinzing, & Yang, the development of a stable rathole. Most flow problems
1994; Peleg, 1978). One of the major industrial powder are caused by a funnel flow pattern and can be cured by
problems is obtaining reliable and consistent flow out of altering the pattern to mass flow (Johanson, 2002; Pu-
hoppers and feeders without excessive spillage and dust rutyan, Pittenger, & Carson, 1998). Measurement of
generation. These problems are usually associated with powder flow properties is necessary for the design of
mass flow hoppers.
Jenike (1964) pioneered the application of shear cell
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +353-21-4903089; fax: +353-21-
techniques for measuring powder flow properties.
4270249. In conjunction with the measured property data, he
E-mail address: j.fi[email protected] (J.J. Fitzpatrick). applied two-dimensional stress analysis in developing a
0260-8774/$ - see front matter  2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2003.11.011
436 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444

Nomenclature

SMP skim milk powder RH relative humidity (%)

WMP whole milk powder qb powder bulk density (kg/m3 )
HFP high fat milk powder qp particle density (kg/m3 )
MCS major consolidating stress (kPa) de effective angle of internal friction (
)
UYS unconfined yield stress (kPa) /w angle of wall friction (
)

mathematical methodology for determining the mini- designing a hopper in terms of calculating the minimum
mum hopper angle and hopper opening size for mass hopper angle and opening size for mass flow. The angle
flow from conical and wedge shaped hoppers. A hopper of wall friction has a dominant effect in determining the
is the lower converging section of a silo and the hopper minimum hopper angle required for mass flow. As a
angle is the angle between the converging section and the result, the hopper wall friction characteristic is critical in
horizontal. The measured flow properties used in this determining if funnel flow and its associated problems
methodology are the flow function, the effective angle of will occur in the silo.
internal friction and the angle of wall friction. The flow Changes in particle properties and storage conditions
function is a plot of the unconfined yield stress of the may influence the flowability of powders, sometimes
powder versus major consolidating stress (Fig. 1), and even small changes can have significant effects. Particle
represents the strength developed within a powder when size has a major influence on powder flowability. A
consolidated, which must be overcome to make the powder maybe considered as having a particle size less
powder flow. A flow function lying towards the bottom than 200 lm, and as the size decreases below this, the
of the graph represents easy flow, and more difficult flow flowability gets worse. One may not notice a major
is represented as the flow functions move upwards in an change in flowability as size is reduced from say 80–60
anticlockwise direction. The flow index is defined as the lm, however a noticeable disimprovement in flowability
inverse slope of the flow function. Jenike used the flow would be expected if the powder is reduced in size by an
index to classify powder flowability with higher values order of magnitude, for example, from 100 to 10 lm.
representing easier flow. This was extended by Tomas This reduction in flowability at smaller particle size is
and Schubert (1979) and is presented in Table 1. due to the increased surface area per unit mass of
The angle of wall friction represents the adhesive powder. More surface area is available for cohesive
strength between the powder and the silo wall material, forces, in particular, and frictional forces to resist flow.
the higher the angle the more difficult it is to move the Intuitively, one would expect particle shape to affect
powder along the wall surface. It is the angle between flowability, as shape will influence the surface contacts
the horizontal and a straight-line from the origin inter- between particles, however, there is not much reported
secting the measured wall yield locus (Prescott, Ploof, & work on the influence of shape on powder flowability.
Carson, 1999), as illustrated in Fig. 2. The wall yield One recent paper describes the results of work which
locus often has a positive Y -intercept, thus the angle of investigated how powder particle shape affected mini-
wall friction will vary with normal stress in the hopper, mum hopper angle and outlet size required for mass
where it is higher at low stresses. Jenike’s mathematical flow (Bumiller, Carson, & Prescott, 2002). Powder
methodology is the engineering standard practice for moisture content usually has a significant impact on
powder flowability. Increasing moisture content leads to
reduced flowability due to the increase in liquid bridges
and capillary forces acting between the powder particles
(Scoville & Peleg, 1981). In addition, this may also lead
to severe flowability problems due to powder caking.
Storage conditions include storage temperature,
exposure to relative humidity of air, storage time and
consolidation. In general, varying the storage tempera-
ture from above freezing to 30 or 40
C does not usually
have a major impact on powder flowability (Teunou &
Fitzpatrick, 1999), provided no melting of components
occurs or no component exceeds its glass transition
temperature. For powders containing solid fats, an in-
Fig. 1. Flow functions: easy vs difficult flow. crease in temperature may cause some melting of fats,
 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444 437

Table 1
Jenike classification of powder flowability by flow index
Flowability Hardened Very cohesive Cohesive Easy flow Free flowing
Flow index <1 <2 <4 <10 >10

the cohesion of powders with similar particle size.

Experiments were performed to investigate the effect of
temperature (5, 20 and 40
C) on the cohesion of four
different WMPs. The results showed a significant in-
crease in cohesion between 5 and 20
C, but not at 40

C, except for one WMP which had the highest free-fat
content. The increase in cohesion was attributed to fat
liquefaction resulting in the formation of liquid bridges
between the particles. Buma also conducted experiments
to investigate the effect of moisture content on cohesion.
The results showed a gradual reduction in cohesion
Fig. 2. Angle of wall friction. from 2% to 5.5% moisture content followed by a sharp
increase in cohesion above 6%.
Rennie, Chen, Hargreaves, and Mackereth (1999)
which may produce viscous liquid bridges leading to have also performed a study on the effect of compo-
increased cohesion. If the powder experiences a tem- sition, particle size, moisture and temperature on the
perature below freezing, some of the water may freeze cohesion of milk powders using an unconfined yield
forming ice bridges between the powder particles test similar to Buma. Their results show that the
resulting in caking. In addition, if liquefied fats are cohesion of WMP is much greater than skim-milk
cooled, this will also result in solid bridge formation powder (SMP), and that reducing particle size from
between particles leading to reduced flowability. The 200 to 80 lm produced a significant increase in cohe-
relative humidity of ambient air is usually a lot higher sion for both powders. They showed that moisture
than the equilibrium relative humidity of most food content, even without the amorphous lactose trans-
powders, thus the powder may readily sorb moisture formation, affects cohesion with a sharp increase in
provided it is in intimate contact with air during han- cohesion of WMP above 6% moisture, similar to
dling, which can lead to increased cohesion and even Buma’s results. Temperature also affects the cohesion
caking. of WMP, however this effect was also influenced by
Many dairy powders are cohesive and many indus- moisture content. WMP with 2.8% moisture showed a
trial silos storing them have mechanical and pneumatic sharp increase in cohesion at around 45
C, while
discharge aids to help prevent arching and ratholing in WMP with 1.8% moisture showed a sharp increase in
an effort to maintain consistent reliable flow. There are cohesion at around 55
C.
not many reports in the literature on the flowability of In this work, shear cell techniques were used to
dairy powders and how it is influenced by powder measure powder flow properties, including flow function
properties and storage conditions. The first major work and wall friction characteristics. The objective of this
was reported over 30 years ago by Buma (1971), who paper is to present results obtained from the application
investigated the effect of particle size, free-fat content, of these techniques for:
temperature and moisture content on the cohesion of
whole-milk powder (WMP). Cohesion was measured • Comparing the flowability of three commercial milk
using an unconfined yield test, whereby a powder plug powders with different milk-fat contents: SMP
was first created by compacting a sample of powder and (0.9% fat), WMP (26% fat), and HFP (73% milk fat).
the pressure required to cause collapse of the unsup- • Investigating the effect of storage temperature and
ported plug was measured. Buma examined small par- exposure to moisture in air on the flowability of the
ticle sizes in the range of 20–40 lm and found a commercial powders.
significant increase in cohesion at the smaller size. • Investigating the effect of particle size on the flowabi-
Cohesion is also expected to increase with increased lity of milk powders with 1%, 26% and 50% fat con-
free-fat content, especially at higher temperatures with tent produced on a pilot-scale.
greater fat liquefaction and liquid bridge formation. • Investigating the effect of free-fat content on the flow-
Buma determined free-fat content by solvent extraction, ability of a milk powder with 26% fat content pro-
but found no correlation between free-fat content and duced on a pilot-scale.
438 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Milk powders

Commercial SMP and WMP were donated by

Dairygold in Mallow, Ireland, and a high fat powder
(HFP) with 73% milk fat content was denotated by
Kerry Ltd. in Listowel, Ireland.
Teagasc Dairy Products Research Centre in Fermoy,
Ireland supplied a number of powders produced in their
pilot-scale spray driers. These were:

Seven 26% fat milk powders with particle sizes rang- Fig. 3. Schematics of (a) annular shear cell used for measuring powder
flow functions, and (b) Jenike shear cell used for measuring angle of
ing from 59 to 240 lm wall friction.
Three 1% fat milk powders with particle sizes ranging
from 92 to 170 lm
Three 50% fat milk powders with particle sizes rang- To study the influence of temperature and relative
ing from 96 to 199 lm humidity, the annular shear cell was enclosed in an
Seven 26% fat milk powders with free-fat contents insulated cabinet. The desired temperature was con-
ranging from 12.7% to 74.2%. trolled using a Haake F3 heating/cooling system. 46%
relative humidity was achieved by placing a tray of a
saturated salt solution in the base of the sealed cabinet.
2.2. Physical properties There was a fan in the cabinet to maintain a uniform
atmosphere, and the values of temperature and relative
• Particle size distribution was measured by laser dif- humidity in the cabinet were recorded by a thermometer
fraction using the Malvern Mastersizer MSS with and a hygrometer located inside the cabinet. There were
powder feeder unit. two gauntlets, mounted on one side of the cabinet, to
• Moisture content (wet basis) was measured by weigh- facilitate the experimenter manipulate powder within
ing 3 g of a sample before and after drying in an oven the controlled environment in the cabinet. For the
at 105
C for 3 days. Each test was carried out in temperature studies, the cell was packed, the lid was
triplicate. placed on top and the cell and powder were allowed
• Bulk density was measured using an Engelsmann equilibrate to the test temperature for 5 h prior to test-
model A.-G. mechanical tapping device, where the ing. For the relative humidity studies, the cell was
volume of a given mass of powder after 1250 taps packed and the free surface was exposed to 46% relative
was measured to calculate the tapped bulk density. humidity for 18 h prior to placing the lid on top and
• Particle density was measured using a Micromeritis starting the test. At the end of the test, samples were
multivolume pycnometer model 1305 whose principle taken from the shearing region for moisture content
is gas (nitrogen) displacement. measurement.

2.3. Flow property measurement by shear cell tests 2.3.2. Angle of wall friction
The wall yield locus of a powder was measured using
2.3.1. Flow function and effective angle of internal friction a Jenike shear cell (95 mm internal diameter) whereby
The annular shear cell (Fig. 3a) was used for mea- the cylindrical base of the cell was replaced by a flat
suring the flow function and effective angle of internal plate of stainless steel 304 with a surface roughness of
friction and is the same as that described by Teunou, 0.2 lm Ra, as illustrated in Fig. 3b. The wall yield locus
Fitzpatrick, and Synnott (1999). It has a fixed shearing was obtained by measuring the horizontal stress re-
rate of 7 mm/min and external and internal diameters of quired to make the powder fail at the following normal
164 and 120 mm, respectively. The milk powder was stresses: 5.9, 4.4, 3.7, 3.0, 2.3 and 1.6 kPa. The procedure
removed from its package and packed into the annular used is that recommended by the Standard Shear Test
shear cell. The annular shear cell was then placed in a Technique (SSTT), using the Jenike shear cell (Institu-
chamber, at a temperature of 20
C, where the shear tion of Chemical Engineers, 1989). The angle of wall
tests for measuring the instantaneous flow function were friction ð/w Þ reported is the angle formed with the
conducted. The procedure used to measure the instan- horizontal by a line drawn from the origin to a point on
taneous flow function is that recommended by the the wall yield locus with a normal stress of 5.9 kPa.
Standard Shear Test Technique (SSTT), using the Jenike To study the influence of temperature on wall yield
shear cell (Institution of Chemical Engineers, 1989). locus, the half-shear cell was first packed and then
 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444 439

placed in an incubator at the required temperature for 5 4

SMP
h. Then, it was removed from the incubator and the wall
WMP
friction test was performed rapidly at ambient (20
C) in 3

UYS (kPa)
HFP
order to minimise cooling of the sample. Temperature
2
measurements of powder in contact with the plate were
initially performed using a thermocouple to monitor the
1
temperature loss of a sample at 30
C during the mea-
surement of a wall yield locus. The temperature dropped 0
by about 2
C during the time required to measure the 0 2 4 6
(a) MCS (kPa)
wall yield locus. More importantly, the temperature
dropped by less than 1
C during the time required to 2
measure the first failure stress at 5.9 kPa normal stress, SMP

shear stress (kPa)

which was the stress used in calculating the angle of wall 1.5 WMP
friction presented in the results. To study the influence HFP

of 46% relative humidity, a sample of powder was 1

spread out as thin layer in an open container and placed
in the cabinet mentioned above where it was exposed for 0.5
18 h to an atmosphere at 46% relative humidity. At the
end of this exposure time, samples were taken for 0
0 2 4 6
moisture content measurement and the wall friction test, (b) normal stress (kPa)
as described above, was performed.
Fig. 4. Comparison of the flowability of SMP, WMP, HFP (73% milk
fat powder): (a) flow functions, (b) wall yield loci for 304 stainless steel.
2.4. Free-fat content measurement

The free-fat content was determined using a solvent

extraction technique where 10 g of powder was mixed are much more susceptible to cohesive arching than
gently with CCl4 for 15 min at ambient temperature SMP.
according to the procedure described by A/S Niro Surface composition of the powder particles is ex-
Atomizer (1978). The tests were conducted in duplicate. pected to play an important role in its flow behaviour
because flowability involves overcoming the surface
attractions between powder particles. Recent work by
Kim, Chen, and Pearce (2002) applied electron spec-
3. Results and discussion troscopy for chemical analysis to measure the surface
composition of 4 industrial spray dried milk powders,
3.1. Comparison of the flowability of commercial milk including SMP (1% fat), WMP (26.5% fat) and a cream
powders with different fat contents powder (71.5% fat). They showed that the surface fat
content of these powders was much higher than their
The measured flow functions for SMP, WMP and the bulk average compositions, with the surface fat contents
73% high fat powder (HFP) are presented in Fig. 4a. of SMP, WMP and cream powder being 18%, 98% and
The cohesion developed within the SMP is much less 99%, respectively. The surface fat content of SMP is a
than that of WMP, and this is in agreement with work lot less than both the WMP and cream powder and this
presented by Rennie et al. (1999). The WMP and HFP may explain its’ lower cohesiveness. The surfaces of both
have similar flow functions and are considered as very the WMP and the cream powder are nearly totally
cohesive powders by their flow index given in Table 2 as covered with fat, and this may explain the similarity of
classified in Table 1. On the other hand, SMP is classi- the flow functions of WMP and HFP measured in this
fied as an easy flow powder. As a result, WMP and HFP work.

Table 2
Physical and flow properties of commercial milk powders at ambient conditions (20
C)
Powder Physical properties Flow properties
Fat content Mean particle Moisture con- Bulk density Particle density Flow index de (
) /w (
)
(%w/w) size (lm) tent (%w/w) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
SMP 0.9 53 4.7 646 1133 6.1 51.5 15.4
WMP 26 99 3.3 627 1180 1.45 48 11
HFP 73 76 2 433 934 1.78 50 12
440 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444

Hopper wall friction characteristic is very important 4

5°C
as this has a major role in determining if mass or funnel
3 15°C

UYS (kPa)
flow will occur in the silo. The wall yield locus of the
25°C
three powders is presented in Fig. 4b and the corre- 2
sponding angles of wall friction (at 5.9 kPa normal
pressure) are presented in Table 2. The wall friction 1
values obtained for the stainless steel wall material tes-
ted are considered low to medium, considering angles of 0
0 2 4 6
wall friction, presented by Fitzpatrick, Barringer, and MCS (kPa)
(a)
Iqbal (2004) for 13 food powders, varied from 12
to
27
. Eventhough the SMP is considered an easier flow 4
5°C
powder than either WMP or HFP based on flow index,
15°C
it adheres more strongly to the stainless steel wall 3

UYS (kPa)
material tested. As a result, a steeper hopper angle is 25°C

required to obtain mass flow for the SMP than either of 2

the other two powders.

1

3.2. Effect of storage temperature 0

0 2 4 6

The effect of storage temperature on the flow func- (b) MCS (kPa)
tions of the three commercial milk powders is shown in 4
Fig. 5 and the corresponding flow index is presented in 5°C
Table 3. For SMP, there is a small increase in the UYS (kPa) 3 20°C
cohesiveness at 25
C. This is likely due to increased 30°C
thermoplasticity of components at higher temperature, 2 40°C
especially lactose. The effect of temperature on the
cohesiveness of WMP is more pronounced. Buma (1971) 1
also showed an increase in the cohesion of WMP with
temperature from 5 to 20
C. This increase in cohesion 0
at higher temperature is likely due to the partial melting 0 2 4 6

of milk fat resulting in the formation of liquid bridges (c) MCS (kPa)
between particles causing an increase in cohesion due to Fig. 5. Effect of storage temperature on the flow functions of SMP,
capillary forces. Furthermore, when WMP enters a silo WMP and HFP.
at elevated temperatures and is allowed to cool to
ambient, it may undergo solidification of fats leading to Due to the high fat content of HFP, it was initially
the formation of solid bridges. This can greatly increase expected that temperature would have an even more
the powder cohesiveness and may lead to caking. pronounced effect. Increasing the temperature from 5 to

Table 3
Effect of storage temperature on the flowability of SMP, WMP and HFP
Powder temperature (
C) Moisture before Moisture after Flow index de (
) /w (
)
(%w/w) (%w/w)
SMP
5 4.7 6.3 52 14.4
15 4.7 6.1 51 15.9
25 4.7 4 50 16.3
WMP
5 3.3 2.3 43 10.7
15 3.3 1.76 48 10.7
25 3.3 1.38 51 12
HFP
5 2 2.1 2.2 44 14.1
20 2 2 1.74 50 12.3
30 2 1.8 2.43 50 12.1
40 2 1.66 2.35 47 12.6
 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444 441

20
C increased the cohesiveness of HFP, however SMP-

4 instantaneous
increasing the temperature further to 30 and 40
C had
SMP-46%RH
the reverse affect which was unexpected, as illustrated in 3

UYS (kPa)
Fig. 5. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that WMP-
Buma (1971) showed no increase in cohesion with tem- 2 instantaneous
WMP-46%RH
perature from 20 to 40
C for WMP. Tests were also
1
performed on HFP at 60
C, however the powder be- HFP-
came very sticky at this temperature making it very 0
instantaneous

difficult to pack the powder, which gave results that 0 2 4 6 HFP-46%RH

MCS (kPa)
were not reproducible.
Storage temperature did not have a major influence Fig. 6. Effect of exposure to moisture in air at 46% relative humidity
on wall friction, as presented in Table 3. For both SMP (RH) and 20
C on the flow functions of SMP, WMP, HFP (73% milk
and WMP, there was a small increase in wall friction at fat powder).
the higher temperature, while for HFP, the highest wall
friction was at the lowest temperature.
and this increase in moisture will cause a significant
reduction in Tg . Crystallisation will initiate if Tg is re-
3.3. Effect of exposure to moisture in air duced below the powder temperature, resulting in solid
bridges between powder particles, which can greatly
The three powders were exposed to moisture in air at increase the cohesiveness of the powder. As SMP has the
46% relative humidity (20
C) over an 18 h period. All highest lactose content and the highest moisture after
three powders picked up moisture from the air, as the 18 h exposure, this mechanism may explain the in-
shown in Table 4. The HFP powder picked up a lot less crease in cohesion. However, measurement of glass
moisture than SMP and WMP, which is probably due to transition properties using, for example differential
its high fat content. The effect of this moisture increase scanning calorimetry, would be required to confirm this.
on the flow functions of the powders is illustrated in Fig. Moisture sorption had only a small effect on the wall
6 and the corresponding flow index is presented in Table friction of each powder with small increases at higher
4. The cohesiveness of WMP and HFP was not signifi- moistures, as shown in Table 4. Effective angles of
cantly affected, however there was a large increase in the internal friction also increased a little at higher mois-
cohesiveness of SMP. Many food powders containing tures.
lactose in its amorphous state may crystallise producing
solid crystal bridges between the particles. Crystallisa- 3.4. Effect of particle size
tion will only take place if the powder temperature is
greater than its glass transition temperature ðTg Þ, Milk powders, with 1%, 26% and 50% milk fat con-
whereby the molecules have sufficient mobility to initiate tent, were produced on a pilot-scale tall form drier.
crystallisation (Roos, 1995; Jouppila & Roos, 1994; Powders with different mean particle sizes were pro-
Jouppila, Kansikas, & Roos, 1997). Tg is usually well duced using different size pressure nozzles. The flow
above the storage temperature for most dry powders. properties of each of these powders were measured. Fig.
However, lactose in its amorphous state is very hygro- 7 illustrates the effect of particle size on the flow func-
scopic and will readily sorb moisture from ambient air, tions of the milk powders with 1%, 26% and 50% milk
fat content. For the 26% fat powder, reducing particle
size from 239 to 59 lm had a significant effect on powder
Table 4
Effect of exposure to moisture in air at 46% relative humidity (RH) and
20
C for 18 h on the flowability of SMP, WMP and HFP 4
Powder Moisture Flow de (
) /w (
) 59 micron
content index 3 69 micron
(%w/w)
UYS (kPa)

150 micron
SMP 2 191 micron
Instantaneous 4.7 6.1 51.5 15.4 212 micron
46% RH 7.5 3 56 16.5
1 220 micron
WMP 239 micron
Instantaneous 3.3 1.45 48 11 0
46% RH 6.9 1.6 52 13.4 0 2 4 6 8
MCS (kPa)
HFP
Instantaneous 2 1.78 50 12.3
Fig. 7. Effect of particle size on the flow functions of milk powder with
46% RH 2.8 1.61 52 12.6
26% milk fat content.
442 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444

Table 5
Effect of particle size on the flow properties of milk powders with 1%, 26% and 50% fat content
Mean particle size (lm) Moisture content Flow index de (
) /w (
)
(%w/w)
26% fat powder
59 4.8 1.9 49 7.3
69 5.3 1.7 51 11.4
150 2.5 7.5
191 6.7 3.4 60 7.1
212 6.4 3.3 57 7.8
220 5.3 5 57 8
239 5.3 10.9 49 6.4

1% fat powder
92 7.8 3.6 57 11
141 7.6 6.8 61 12
170 7.2 6.3 60 11.5
50% fat powder
96 3.4 2.35 41.5 8
161 3.5 2.2 43.5 8.2
199 3.6 2.45 44.5 8.4

cohesion by reducing the flow index from over 10 (free- in Table 5, and the effective angle of internal friction
flow) to just below 2 (very cohesive), as presented in tended to increase with particle size.
Table 5. This is an expected result as reducing particle
size increases the contact area between particles allowing 3.5. Effect of free-fat content
greater interaction between cohesive forces. Likewise,
for the 1% fat powder, reducing particle size from 170 to The physical properties of the seven 26% fat powders
92 lm reduced the flow index from 6.3 to 3.6. The flow with free-fat content varying from 12.6% to 74.2% are
index of these powders may appear unusually low for a similar in terms of particle size, moisture content and
low fat powder when compared to the commercial SMP bulk density as presented in Table 6. The measured flow
above, however it should be noted that the moisture functions of the powders are illustrated in Fig. 8. Six of
content of these powders is much higher thus rendering the seven flow functions are very close to each other with
them more cohesive. For the 50% fat powder, decreasing the 12.7% free-fat powder being further below the rest.
particle size from 199 to 96 lm had no effect on the There was no relationship between free-fat content and
cohesion between the particles as indicated by flow index powder cohesion for these six powders, however the
(Table 5) which was an unexpected result. Maybe the 12.7% free-fat powder is the lowest free-fat powder and
cohesiveness derived from the high fat content has a is the least cohesive. All in all, these measurements show
more dominant effect than reducing particle size within that free-fat content in the range of 13–74% has no
the range studied. major influence on the cohesion of 26% fat powder at
The measured angles of wall friction for each of the 20
C. Buma also found no correlation between free-fat
powders were lower than expected when compared to content and the cohesion of WMP with similar mean
those for the commercial powders above, however the particle size.
1% fat powder had higher wall friction than those with The free-fat content measured will depend on the
higher fat content. Particle size had no significant effect solvent extraction process, including extraction time and
on the wall friction of any of the powders, as presented temperature. In addition to the surface free-fat, solvent

Table 6
Physical properties of 26% fat powders with varying free-fat content
Powder Free-fat content (%w/w) Mean particle size (lm) Moisture content (%w/w) Bulk density (kg/m3 )
12.6% ff 12.6 83 4.5 660
13.2% ff 13.2 58 3.7 650
30.6% ff 30.6 47 3 590
47.9% ff 47.9 56 3 610
49.3% ff 49.3 55 3 630
58.8% ff 58.8 69 3.9 640
74.2% ff 74.2 68 3.8 630
 J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 64 (2004) 435–444 443

4 per unit mass at smaller particle sizes. A similar effect

12.6%ff
was measured for a 1% fat milk powder, however par-
13.2%ff
3 ticle size within the range of 96–199 lm appeared to
UYS (kPa)

30.6%ff
have no effect on the cohesion of a 50% fat powder.
2 47.9%ff
Free-fat content, ranging from 13% to 74%, had no
49.3%ff
1 58.8%ff
significant effect on the cohesion of a 26% fat milk
74.2%ff
powder at 20
C. Surface free-fat content is likely to play
0 a key role in determining powder flowability, and as the
0 2 4 6 surface of WMP is nearly totally covered by free-
MCS (kPa) fat, then increasing the powder free-fat content will
not contribute to additional surface coverage with free-
Fig. 8. Effect of free-fat content on the flow functions of 26% fat milk
powders. fat.

extraction will extract free-fat from within the bulk of

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