Agglomerates

Clusters of fine particles bound into larger porous granules — the physical form behind instant coffee, milk powder, soup mixes and cocoa that dissolve on contact with water. Their open, sponge-like structure lets liquid penetrate instantly, preventing the stubborn lumps that plague fine powders. Spray drying with steam treatment is the usual manufacturing route, a triumph of powder engineering over clumping. Agglomerates turn inconvenient dusts into convenient products: the same powder, restructured, behaves completely differently in the cup. The same principle now serves instant soups, powdered detergents and pharmaceutical granules.