Liquefaction of Fat-Bound Particle Agglomerates

A fully funded 3 year PhD studentship (funded by Nestlé PTC York) is available on the understanding of how fat-bound powders can be transformed into a suspension state by mechanical treatment.
It is to be investigated how mechanical processing of fat-bound powders can be used for degassing and coating of the particle surfaces with fat so that the fat phase becomes the continuous phase with the particles being the dispersed phase.
Different technologies are to be compared, such as extruders and dynamic mixers (high-shear and low-shear, continuous and batch). The microstructural development over time is to be correlated with the mechanical energy input, the residence time and the shear and normal forces acting in the process. Power and mixing characteristics are to be established for the different processes. The influence of processing and material parameters on the microstructure is to be analysed. Microstructures will be characterised using optical and rheological methods.
The impact of moisture on rheological characteristics is to be assessed. Model materials are to be used such as crystalline particles mixed with fat. An investigation is to be conducted on the role of degassing on reducing moisture content and its subsequent impact on rheology.
The student will work within the Particle Products Research Group which has recently acquired a new state of the art food laboratory, equipped with cutting edge research equipment for product characterisation and development.