APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING READILY SOLUBLE GRANULAR SUBSTANCES FROM POWDERED MATERIALS

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING READILY SOLUBLE GRANULAR SUBSTANCES FROM POWDERED MATERIALS An apparatus for manufacturing readily soluble granular substances from powdered materials such as for example coffee, milk and the like comprises a vertical outer hollow cylindrical body for allowing quantities of powdered material from a distributor to fall by gravity therethrough, a vertical inner hollow cylindrical body of different length and diameter inside the outer cylindrical body, the two concentric cylindrical bodies partly overlapping each other to define a circumferential gap therebetween extending along the overlapping portion, pneumatic air supply means on the outer cylindrical body for introducing compressed air into the outer body and producing a whirling air stream in the gap so that the powdered material carried by the whirling air stream can form a thin ring-like continuous curtain, and first and second steam supply means at the end of the passage of the powdered material for blowing steam against the curtainshaped powdered material from the inside and outside. Thus, the apparatus can produce granular substances of desired grain size range with improved efficiency, and the produced substances can readily disperse in a liquid such as water.