1Physics Department, St.Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia 2Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
We have created a model of an oil characterized by a high solid fat content (SFC < 1.0) with 0.3 < SFC < 0.8. Our intent was to understand and predict the variety of structures which are manifested in edible oils with high SFC and observed via polarized light and transmission electron microscopy. An understanding of how these structures come about is not only of intrinsic interest but is also of significance for the edible oil industry. In making the models, we assumed that solid fat crystallization is initiated via randomly distributed seeds and is rapid compared to the time-scale of solid diffusion. Solids are represented by spherical objects interacting via the well-known expressions for sphere-sphere interactions and which are made anisotropic via the creation of strongly interacting 'hot-spots' on the surfaces to simulate locally-flat strongly interacting solid interfaces. This model is an extension of one which we have used to successfully understand aggregation of solids in oils with low to intermediate SFC. We shall present results which show how initial crystallization develops, followed by diffusion and aggregation via the anisotropic interactions. We shall show how diffusion of tracer molecules is affected by the SFC and the strength and distribution of the symmetry-breaking anisotropic interactions as well as the properties of the crystal surfaces. Static structure will be followed via structure functions which will predict X-ray scattering intensities.
Principal investigator: Prof. David A. Pink scorpiocarla@gmail.com
