Spray drying is an efficient unit operation applied in food drying that demands a high amount of energy compared to vacuum evaporation and membrane filtration. The objective of this work was to present a mathematical model-like basis for the construction of mass and energy balances. For this purpose, two lab-scale single spray dryers in milk drying with different evaporative capacities have been used as example. The values of the absolute humidity, mass and energy losses, energetic specific consumption (ESC), and the efficiency of the process were obtained by calculations developed in this work. The mathematical model was valid for the evaluation of mass and energy losses, and it allowed us to compare the efficiencies of spray dryers with different designs. From this model, it is possible to compare different drying processes and dryers. ARTICLE HISTORY

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