Rapid cooling of lipid in a prilling tower Theoretical considerations and consequences on the structure of the microspheres

Two lipid binders, glyceryl behenate and paraffin wax, were examined regarding their ability to be used in a prilling process. Prilling has the advantage to produce microgranules very reproducible in size and shape but involves ultrafast cooling of liquid droplets. The different steps to produce solid micropheres from the molten state were successfully modelled to predict crystallisation time as a function of the binder used. Bulk versus microgranules characterization by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and microscopies showed the peculiar suitability of the 50/50 mixture of the two lipid binders for prilling, in agreement with the theoretical approach.