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Effectiveness of Polyoxyethylene Nonionic Emulsifiers in Emulsification Processes Using Disc Systems
Author(s) -
Petersen S.,
Ulrich J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201100257
Subject(s) - creaming , polysorbate , emulsion , chemistry , viscosity , coalescence (physics) , chemical engineering , solubility , oil droplet , chromatography , pectin , materials science , organic chemistry , pulmonary surfactant , composite material , biochemistry , physics , astrobiology , engineering
Additives such as emulsifiers and stabilizers (viscosity enhancers or polymers) are needed to stabilize emulsion systems against coalescence and creaming. A way to reduce emulsifier input by determining the effectiveness of different emulsifiers is described. Only disc systems with optimized configuration are applied for emulsification. Polysorbates are taken as an example for emulsifiers. The viscosity was increased with pectin as a viscosity enhancer to allow higher energy inputs by the disc systems and, therefore, to improve droplet disruption. The attainable mean diameters of oil droplets stabilized only by pectin were compared with the resulting mean diameters of oil droplets of emulsions containing polysorbates. Polysorbate 20, the emulsifier with the highest water solubility of all here described emulsifiers, proved to be the most effective in decreasing the mean diameter of the disperse phase when using disc systems. An optimal emulsifier concentration of 2 wt‐% for emulsions at low viscosities is observed for all polysorbates and for the whole range of oil concentration.