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 language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 33-38 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | JAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society |
Volume | 88 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2011 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Chemical Engineering
- Organic Chemistry