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Comparing various drying procedures at the TU Weihenstephan

Vacuum drying is part of the basic education in nutritional sciences. Students at the TU Weihen-stephan get to know the process by experiments using the vacuum drying oven. Basic research at the TU Weihenstephan. It is no exaggeration that the Science Centre Weihenstephan of the Technical University Munich (in short, WZW) is referred to as the home of the nutritional sciences and the environmental sciences in Germany.

Surrounded by Bavarian manufacturers of beer and milk rich in tradition, the WZW has long been a premium address for basic research as well as applied and practical research, amongst others covering food process engineering.

Comparing vacuum drying with spray drying and freeze drying

Students at the department of food process engineering and dairy technology, for example, learn not only in theory about the various drying procedures for skimmed milk, full cream milk and whey powder, but they also have to perform these procedures themselves. The tests for vacuum drying are performed in the Memmert vacuum drying oven. At the end of the process, the milk powder is compared, in terms of water content, water activity, solubility, structure, taste, smell, consistence and colour with the samples from freeze drying and spray drying.

By the way: The first coolable Memmert vacuum drying oven was built as a customised model for the WZW.