Investigation of kinetic patterns of the process of obtaining proteins from sunflower meal

The article is devoted to the development and experimental research of the technology of complex processing of sunflower meal in order to obtain valuable protein concentrates. The relevance of the work is due to the need for rational and in-depth use of secondary products of the fat and oil industry to create food and feed additives with high nutritional value. During the research, a multi-stage technological process was tested, including such key operations as crushing and fractionation of raw materials, hydrolysis, centrifugation, baromembrane separation and final dehydration of the obtained fractions. The central place in the work is given to the selection of optimal parameters of baromembrane separation. Ceramic and polymer membranes with different pore sizes were tested. It was found that the polymer membrane (200 Da) retains the entire protein, but does not provide selectivity, while the ceramic membrane (1.4 microns) passes over 60% of the target product. As a result of a comprehensive analysis of performance and selectivity, a ceramic membrane with a pore size of 0.14 microns, 23 channels and a filter surface of 0.35 m2 was found to be optimal. The second important part of the work was the study of the drying process of liquid protein concentrate on a spray dryer. Rational modes have been identified to ensure the production of a dry bulk product with specified quality parameters. The highest efficiency was achieved using a 2.0 mm diameter nozzle, a coolant inlet temperature of 384.3–390 K and an outlet temperature of 348.0–352.5 K, and a product feed rate of 3.09–3.42 kg/h. This made it possible to obtain a ready-made powder of light brown color with a moisture content of 6.48–6.83%. As a result of the work, the effectiveness of the proposed technology was scientifically substantiated and experimentally confirmed, the optimal parameters of the key stages of the process were determined, which makes it possible to recommend it for practical implementation in the conditions of processing enterprises.