Construction of 2D transparent micromodels in polyester resin with porosity similar to carrots

• Main Authors: Rodrigo Emilio Díaz, Sergio Miguel Acuña, Luis Andrés Segura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos 2011-12-01
• Series: Food Science and Technology
• Subjects: flexografia; micromodelos transparente; materiais porosos
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-20612011000400022&lng=en&tlng=en

Microscopic visualization, especially in transparent micromodels, can provide valuable information to understand the transport phenomena at pore scale in different process occurring in porous materials (food, timber, soils, etc.). Micromodels studies focus mainly on the observation of multi-phase flow, which presents a greater proximity to reality. The aim of this study was to study the process of flexography and its application in the manufacture of polyester resin transparent micromodels and its application to carrots. Materials used to implement a flexo station for micromodels construction were thermoregulated water bath, exposure chamber to UV light, photosensitive substance (photopolymer), RTV silicone polyester resin, and glass plates. In this paper, data on size distribution of a particular kind of carrot we used, and a transparent micromodel with square cross-section as well as a Log-normal pore size distribution with pore radii ranging from 10 to 110 µm (average of 22 µm and micromodel size of 10 × 10 cm) were built. Finally, it stresses that it has successfully implemented the protocol processing 2D polyester resin transparent micromodels.