Baratian Ghorghi Zohreh, Faezian Ali, Yeganehzad Samira, Hesarinejad Mohammad Ali, Sheikhi Darani Alireza, Fidaleo Marcello, Ahmadi Tighchi Hashem
Department of Food Sensory and Cognitive Science, Research Institute of Food Science and Technology (RIFST), Mashhad, Iran.
Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food, and Forest Systems, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 7;15(1):1213. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82352-4.
This study focuses on numerical modeling of the oleogelation process using grape seed oil and beeswax and its validation using experimental approach. The main goal is to investigate how the cooling rate affects this process. The necessary physical and thermal properties of the oleogel for modeling were determined through experiments. Additionally, differential scanning calorimetry was used to characterize phase transitions. The apparent heat capacity method was applied in the numerical modeling to simulate the phase change process, and the energy equation was solved using the finite element method. The numerical model demonstrated a maximum relative error of 5.4%, indicating a strong agreement between the numerical results and experimental data. After validating the numerical model, five different cooling rates were investigated. The findings showed that oleogelation begins near the bottom boundary of the setup and then propagates toward the center. Furthermore, the fraction of the total time required for the phase change to complete varied between 0.35 and 0.04 as the cooling rate decreased. This indicates that slower cooling rates provide more time for heat transfer, allowing for more thorough gelation and completing the phase transition in a smaller fraction of the total time. The proposed model can save time and costs while delivering accurate data on creating a beneficial oleogel.
本研究聚焦于使用葡萄籽油和蜂蜡的油凝胶化过程的数值模拟，并采用实验方法对其进行验证。主要目标是研究冷却速率如何影响这一过程。通过实验确定了用于建模的油凝胶所需的物理和热性能。此外，使用差示扫描量热法来表征相变。在数值模拟中应用表观热容法来模拟相变过程，并使用有限元法求解能量方程。数值模型显示最大相对误差为5.4%，表明数值结果与实验数据高度吻合。在验证数值模型后，研究了五种不同的冷却速率。研究结果表明，油凝胶化从装置的底部边界附近开始，然后向中心传播。此外，随着冷却速率降低，相变完成所需的总时间的比例在0.35至0.04之间变化。这表明较慢的冷却速率为热传递提供了更多时间，从而允许更彻底的凝胶化，并在总时间的较小比例内完成相变。所提出的模型可以节省时间和成本，同时提供关于制备有益油凝胶的准确数据。
