marjan wrote:
Hi I have I large quantity of liquid molasses and I need to convert it to dry powder is it possible?
As already discussed, one path is to coat a fine-textured, dry substrate with the liquid molasses. That probably will require a mixing/blending device to prevent clumping and ensure consistent coating. Depending on how it is done, the condition of the ingredients, and the final product's intended use, you might have to dry the coated product. Commercial dry molasses products in the U.S. typically have a maximum moisture content of maybe 5-8%, which probably requires the manufacturers to dry it before bagging. If you have mixing equipment, but not drying equipment, I suppose it is possible to sun/solar dry the mixture after blending it, depending on time constraints. Perhaps you could blend the dried product lightly to relieve excess clumping. Molasses is exposed to fairly high temperatures during production, so one would think that anything short of an oxidizing temperature is feasible. Drying temperature and duration likely have an effect on the end product's characteristics, though. As for pitfalls, I imagine mold is a consideration, depending on the circumstances.
Another option that might or might not be available to you is to use the liquid product to make feed blocks. A typical feed block might contain 45-55% liquid molasses, a binder at about 15%, some water for premixing the binder, a protein source, usually urea, in the 5-15% range, and/or a mineral supplement. The blocks can be sun-dried or air dried, but sun drying is faster. This raises the issue of making home-made lick blocks to supply herbal products or maybe even items such as diatomaceous earth to free range livestock. It appears feasible to me. The quantity of liquid molasses you have equates to a lot of feed blocks. Here's one Australian reference for making feed blocks:
http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd15/3/mill153.htm
A third option is to make a "soft" pelleted feed or "range cubes" in which molasses is used as an ingredient/binder for the pelleted feed mixture. I don't think the molasses would require special drying beyond that used for the pelleting/forming process, if any, depending on the molasses content. Of course, if the molasses can be used at the feeding point, it could be mixed with the feed immediately before feeding. A more specialized use is to add the liquid molasses to a dry silage substrate with a very low sugar content before ensiling it.
I'm not sure offhand if one can granulate liquid molasses to a "pure" dry powdered state. Molasses typically is about 50% sugars, but the other solids apparently make it difficult to crystallize. From your description, it seems your molasses might be higher quality than the last boil blackstrap that most feed-grade molasses is, so it might dry down better than would blackstrap. You could try it and see. It seems that economics favor the coated substrate approach we mentioned, though. Good luck!