Ultrasonic attenuation measurements of the mixing, agglomeration, and sedimentation of sucrose crystals suspended in oil

Umut Yucel, John N. Coupland

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The structure and properties of solid-in-oil dispersions are important in many industrial products, notably chocolate, yet are difficult to characterize by existing methodologies. Sensors based on ultrasonic attenuation measurements offer potential to characterize changes in these systems. Sucrose crystals (d ~ 29.8 μm) were dispersed into corn oil (8-16 wt%) in a stirred tank. The dispersed crystals were agglomerated by the addition of small volumes of water (<1%) and finally allowed to sediment quiescently. The processes were monitored continuously by ultrasonic attenuation measurements (2.25 MHz). Ultrasonic attenuation increased with increasing sucrose crystal concentration and with the degree of agglomeration. Adding water also decreased the equilibrium sediment density and decreased the time taken for the sucrose to sediment out quiescently. Water-induced agglomeration led to the formation of a few very large particles as inferred from sedimentation kinetics and confirmed by micrometer measurements of crystal agglomerates. In conclusion, ultrasonic attenuation measurements provide a variety of novel approaches that can be used to characterize suspensions of particles in oil.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)33-38
Number of pages6
JournalJAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Volume88
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Organic Chemistry

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