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The effect of different porous media on moisture loss and oil absorption profiles during frying using glass micromodels
Author(s) -
Cortés Pablo,
Badillo Guillermo,
Segura Luis,
Bouchon Pedro
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.15088
Subject(s) - materials science , porous medium , imbibition , moisture , microstructure , porosity , saturation (graph theory) , fractal dimension , absorption (acoustics) , evaporation , composite material , chemical engineering , fractal , meteorology , mathematics , combinatorics , engineering , mathematical analysis , botany , germination , physics , biology
Microstructure plays a key role in oil absorption during frying. The aim of this work was to improve our understanding of the relationship between microstructure and oil absorption, through the use of glass micromodels to obtain evidence of transport phenomena in three porous networks. Micromodels were saturated with water and partially immersed in oil at 190°C. Moisture and oil profiles were imaged to get water and oil saturation maps. Image and fractal analyses were performed to describe the morphology of the evaporation and oil fronts. Results showed that higher porosity facilitated the moisture removal and promoted greater oil absorption during cooling. The fractal dimension showed that microstructures with a relatively high number of fine capillaries were less stable and propitiated fingering during the advance of the evaporation front. In all matrices, the disruption of the surface oil film due to air penetration was a critical factor to stop oil imbibition. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 62: 629–638, 2016