MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF WHEY-BASED GRANULATION DISPERSED MIXTURES PROCESS IN DISK-TYPE DEVICES
Introduction. In Russia, production of juice, whey, milk, and flavor powders is complicated by the lack of effective manufacturing technologies. Thus, a new technological flow for simultaneous use of moisturizing additives and structured capillary-porous granules remains an urgent task as it would allow combining a polydisperse system with instantiation reliability. The research objective was to create a mathematical model of the process of granulation of dispersed mixtures, as well as scientific substantiation for the new technology of instant polydisperse granular beverage mixes. Study objects and methods. The research featured a disk-type granulator with an activator and a polydisperse whey-based mix. The fractional composition of the mix included cranberry pulp (20%), whey (40%), potato starch (5%), powdered sugar (20%), premixes (5%), etc. Results and discussion. The research revealed the effect of granulation modes, granulator operation modes, and the phase composition of the initial mix on the profile of the resulting granulated product. The mathematically obtained results were proved experimentally: the model accurately reflected the physical essence of the granulation process of the polydisperse mixes based on local raw materials and whey. Conclusion. The study provided methods for regulating the process of granulation of polydisperse whey-based mixes n in disktype granulators. The article introduces a mathematical model of the process based on the hypothesis of the stochastic nature of the processes. The granulation process was described as a combination of seven states depending on the granular composition and granulation time.