Production of uniform O/W emulsions through a porous medium of micron-sized glass beads (original) (raw)

Premix membrane emulsification, along with other latest emulsification techniques, has established itself as a promising technique for the production of small sized and relatively monodisperse emulsions at comparatively low energy inputs. A drawback of premix emulsification is membrane fouling that may become serious depending on the formulation components, and related to that their interaction with the membrane and their ease of removal. In this research, an alternative system consisting of a packed bed of glass beads, which is intrinsically easier to clean, was investigated. The process parameters, especially, particle size and bed height, were studied. A coarse O/W emulsion, of 5% hexadecane in water having 0.5% (v/v) Tween-20 as surfactant, was prepared with an Ultraturrax homogenizer operated at 3500 rpm for 10 minutes. The droplet size was typically around 25-30 µm with a span of 0.9-1.0 (span is defined as δ = (d 90 −d 10)/d 50). Premix emulsification was carried out by passi...