Abstract
Water-soluble chemicals, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and food powders often become sticky during handling at high temperature or humidity. Increasing the storage time at elevated temperature and humidity frequently leads to a time consolidation (called caking) of such powders. To clarify the mechanism of stickiness and caking, it is required that one understands the adhesion forces between single particles. The adhesion forces are dependent on material properties such as the hygroscopicity and viscosity of the substances composing the particles. Caking of crystalline water-soluble solids is caused by dissolution and re-crystallization of the crystalline substance. Time consolidation of amorphous water-soluble solids is primarily linked to sinter processes. The sinter kinetic strongly depends on the materials viscosity, which is a function of moisture content and temperature. In the current study, the caking and stickiness of different water-soluble powders such as dextrose syrup, yeast extract, sodium chloride, and milk powder are discussed based on the relevant adhesion mechanism.
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Palzer, S., Sommer, K. (2010). Caking of Water-Soluble Amorphous and Crystalline Food Powders. In: Aguilera, J., Simpson, R., Welti-Chanes, J., Bermudez-Aguirre, D., Barbosa-Canovas, G. (eds) Food Engineering Interfaces. Food Engineering Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7475-4_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7475-4_19
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