Effects of capillary condensation on the caking of bulk sucrose

Effects of anticaking agents and storage conditions on the moisture sorption, caking, and flowability of deliquescent ingredients

“…Environmental moisture may induce caking in crystalline ingredients. The process commences with the formation of liquid bridges between crystals (Peleg, 1983), which can result from partial deliquescence or capillary condensation (Billings, Bronlund, & Paterson, 2006;Palzer, 2006;. Cycling the environmental RH above and below the deliquescence point of ingredients or blends can lead to cycles of partial deliquescence and efflorescence (Mauer & Taylor, 2010;.…”

Common-ion effects on the deliquescence lowering of crystalline ingredient blends

“…The condensed water facilitates the mixing of the two solutes and the deliquescence lowering described by the Gibbs-Duhem equation (Eq. (2)) to take place (Billings et al, 2006;. The RH 0mix is constant regardless of the ratio of the ingredients in the blend because initially only the eutonic composition deliquesces above the RH 0mix Salameh & Taylor, 2005).…”

“…The incorporation of water into a blend of dry ingredients can lead to enhanced degradation, phase transitions, clumping, and/or dissolution (Billings, Bronlund, & Paterson, 2006;Li, Taylor, & Mauer, 2011;Lipasek, Ortiz, Taylor, & Mauer, 2012;Stoklosa, Lipasek, Taylor, & Mauer, 2012). A critical relative humidity (RH) for many hygroscopic crystalline ingredients is the deliquescence point.…”

“…At crystal-crystal contact points, the capillary radius approaches 0 and at some distance between the crystals there will be water present according the Kelvin equation (Billings et al, 2006). It is hypothesized that capillary condensation at crystal-crystal contact points initiates dissolution of these solids.…”

Probing Composition and Molecular Mobility in Thin Spherical Films Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Measurements of Diffusion

“…This is a widespread issue in the processing of powder feed materials in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, which can result in reduced flowability and processability of these materials. This is particularly a problem for amorphous water-soluble solids, such as salt, sucrose or urea, where caking has been linked to the adsorption of water from the surrounding ambient air when stored at high relative humidity [1][2][3][4][5] . In these materials, the solid particle partially dissolves in the adsorbed liquid, forming a thin layer of solution on the surface and a liquid bridge at the contact point between particles.…”