In the dairy industry, crystallization is an important separation process used in the refining of lactose from whey solutions. In the refining operation, lactose crystals are separated from the whey solution through nucleation, growth, and/or aggregation. The rate of crystallization is determined by the combined effect of crystallizer design, processing parameters, and impurities on the kinetics of the process. This review summarizes studies on lactose crystallization, including the mechanism, theory of crystallization, and the impact of various factors affecting the crystallization kinetics. In addition, an overview of the industrial crystallization operation highlights the problems faced by the lactose manufacturer. The approaches that are beneficial to the lactose manufacturer for process optimization or improvement are summarized in this review. Over the years, much knowledge has been acquired through extensive research. However, the industrial crystallization process is still far from optimized. Therefore, future effort should focus on transferring the new knowledge and technology to the dairy industry.
Keywords: crystallization; industrial; lactose; optimization; secondary nucleation.
© 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®