Structure-Performance Relations of Oxygen Barriers for Food Packaging

Food packaging should ensure the safety and quality of food, minimize spoilage and provide an easy way of storing and handling it. Barrier coatings are generally used to meet the demands placed on fibre-based food packages, as these have the ability to regulate the amount of gases that can enter them. Some gases are detrimental to food quality: oxygen, for example, initiates lipid oxidation in fatty foods. Using both experimental data and computer modelling, this thesis explains some aspects of how the structure of barrier coatings influences the mass transport of oxygen with the aim of obtaining essential knowledge that can be used to optimize the performance of barriers. Barrier coatings are produced from polyvinyl alcohol and kaolin blends that are coated onto a polymeric support. The chemical and physical structures of these barriers were characterized according to their influence on permeability in various climates. At a low concentration of kaolin, the crystallinity of polyvinyl alcohol decreased; in the thinner films, the kaolin particles were orientated in the basal plane of the barrier coating. The experimental results indicated a complex interplay between the polymer and the filler with respect to permeability. A computer model for permeability incorporating theories for the filled polymeric layer to include the polymer crystallinity, addition of filler, filler aspect ratio and surrounding moisture was developed. The model shows that mass transport was affected by the aspect ratio of the clay in combination with the clay concentration, as well as the polymer crystallinity. The combined model agreed with the experiments, showing that it is possible to combine different theories into one model that can be used to predict the mass transport. Four barrier coatings: polyethylene, ethylene vinyl alcohol + kaolin, latex + kaolin and starch were evaluated using the parameters of greenhouse gas emissions and product costs. After the production of the barrier material, the coating process and the end-of-life handling scenarios were analysed, it emerged that starch had the lowest environmental impact and latex + kaolin had the highest.Food packaging is required to secure the safety and quality of food, as well as minimize spoilage and simplify handling. Barrier coatings are generally used to meet the demands placed on fibre-based food packages, as these have the ability to regulate the amount of gases that can enter them. Some gases are detrimental to food quality: oxygen, for example, initiates lipid oxidation in fatty foods. This thesis focuses on the mass transport of oxygen in order to gain deeper knowledge of, and thereby optimise, the performance of barrier coatings. This experimental study, together with computer modelling, characterized the structure of barrier materials with respect to the mass transport process. The performance of the barriers was evaluated based on the parameters of environmental impact and product costs. As the long-term aim is to use non-petroleum-based barrier coatings for packaging, these should be evaluated by assessing the properties of the material in question, its functionality and its environmental impact to provide more insight into which materials are desirable as well as to develop technology. The results from this study indicate that several parameters (the orientation, concentration and aspect ratio of the clay and the polymer crystallinity) influence the properties of a barrier. Using this knowledge, researchers and food packaging engineers can work toward improving and customising renewable barriers.VIP

Magnetresonanstomografi, MRI : Litteraturstudie och simulering

Magnetiskresonanstomografi, MRI, är en användbar teknik inom flera områden, i denna uppsats ligger fokus på användning inom medicin. Fysiken som ligger bakom MRI presenteras, som t ex uppdelning av energinivåer och kärnmagnetiskresonans. Uppbyggnad och tekniken som ligger bakom MRI har även studeras. Sedan har det gjorts jämförelse mellan MRI, röntgen och datortomografi.   Utöver litteraturstudierna har simulering gjorts. I denna del har en modell för hjärnan byggts i programmet Comsol Multiphysics. I denna modell har studier av energiöverföringen, magnetiska fältet och elektriska fältet gjorts. Modellen har lösts både som stationärt problem och som tidsberoende. För energiöverföringen som redovisas som tidsmedelvärdet ser resultaten liknade ut för det stationära fallet som för de tidsberoende fallen, dock om man inte ser på tidsmedelvärdet utan energiöverföring under hela tiden så kan man dra slutsatsen att det stationära fallet är det mest kritiska.Magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, is a useful technical method in many different areas; in this report lies focus on uses in medicine. MRI has been studied from a physical meaning, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR, and spin splitting. A technical perspective of MRI has been studied, such as how MRI is built-up and technical details. MRI has been compared with Computed Tomography, CT, and X-rays.   In addition to the theoretical studies, have simulations using the programme Comsol Multiphysics been done. One model has been built up to simulate MRI influences on the brain. The energy transfer, magnetic field and electric field have been studied. The model has been solved both as stationary and as time dependent problem. In the solution can a small difference be noticed which depend on that the results show the time average. If one studies the real solution, not the time average, can one conclusion rather quickly been drawn that the stationary solution have the highest transferred energy

Development of an Image Processing Tool for Fluorescence Microscopy Analysis of Paper Chemistry

Paper making today is, to some extent, based on empirical knowledge. It is wellknown that fines, pH, charge and ion strength affect the manufacture of paper. One way of extending knowledge of the mechanisms of paper chemistry is to follow the trajectories of fines and additives in the paper suspension to gather information as to the manner in which they react. Four tracking algorithms adapted to the needs of this particular problem were implemented in order to track particles effciently. The tracking algorithms include two variants of the well-known "Lucas-Kanade algorithm" and template matching techniques based on cross-correlation and least squares matching. Although these techniques are similar in principle, the actual tracking can nevertheless differ; the Lucas-Kanade algorithms were found to be more invariant to noise, whereas the cross-correlation and least squares methods are more rapid to execute in Matlab. The tracking methods have been evaluated using a simulator to generate image sequences of synthetic particles moving according to Brownian motion. Tracking has also been evaluated on microscope images of real latex particles where the results have been compared to manual tracking. Tracking of both the simulated particles and the latex particles resulted in similar results when compared to known position and manual tracking, respectively.Tillverkning av papper är till en viss del baserad på empirisk kunskap. Välkänt är att finmaterial, pH värde, laddning och jonstyrka påverkar de papperskemiska mekanismerna och därmed flertalet pappersegenskaper vid tillverkning av papper. En möjlighet att utveckla kunskaperna inom papperskemiska mekanismerar att studera finmaterial och additiv i en pappers suspension for att samla in informationom reaktionsmekanismer. Fyra trackningalgoritmer ar vidareutvecklade i syftet att möjliggöra studier kring papperskemiska mekanismer. Trackningalgoritmerna inkluderar två varianter av den välkända "Lucas-Kanade" algoritm och två template-baserade metoder: korskorrelation och minsta kvadratmetoden. Samtliga metoder bygger på samma princip, men trots detta kan resultaten från trackningen skilja mellan metoderna. Lucas-Kanade algoritmerna är mer oberoende av brus medan korskorrelationen och minsta kvadratmetoden exekveras snabbare i Matlab. Trackning metoderna utvärderades med hjälp av en simulator som genererar bildsekvenser av syntetiska partiklar med en Brownsk rörelse. Trackningen har även använts på mikroskopibilder av rörelsebanor på verkliga suspenderade latex partiklar, varvid trackningresultatet har jämförts med manuell trackning. De genererade bildsekvensernapa de simulerade partiklarna har kända rörelsebanor som är jämförbara med rörelsebanor for latex partiklarna

Structural Studies and Modelling of Oxygen Transport in Barrier Materials for Food Packaging

The requirements of food packages are to ensure food safety and quality, to minimize spoilage, and to provide an easy way to store and handle food. To meet these demands for fibre-based food packages, barrier coatings are generally used to regulate the amount of gases entering a package, as some gases are detrimental to food quality. Oxygen, for example, initiates lipid oxidation in fatty foods. Bakery products may also be sensitive to oxygen. This thesis focused on mass transport of oxygen in order to gain deeper knowledge in the performance of barrier coatings and to develop means to optimize the performance of barrier coatings. This experimental study along with computer modelling characterized the structure of barrier materials with respect to the mass transport process.This project was performed as part of the multidisciplinary industrial graduate school VIPP (www.kau.se/en/vipp) - Values Created in Fibre Based Processes and Products – at Karlstad University, with the financial support from the Knowledge Foundation, Sweden, and Stora Enso.Artikel 2 "The influence of clay orientation..." ingick som manuskript i avhandlingen, då med titeln: "Influence of clay orientation in dispersion barrier coatings on oxygen permeation". Nu publicerad.</p

An economic-environmental analysis of selected barrier coating materials used in packaging food products : A Swedish case study

The purpose of a barrier coating in food packaging is primarily to increase the shelf life of the foodstuff contained within the packaging, preserve its colour, odour, taste and quality, and thereby reduce food wastage (both at retail outlets and households). While most publications hitherto have compared packaging and barrier-coating materials on the basis of their environmental impacts alone, this paper adopts a more holistic approach by factoring in the economic aspect as well. Four barrier material alternatives—starch, polyethylene, EVOH + kaolin and latex + kaolin are analysed. Two well-defined end-of-life handling scenarios, relevant to Sweden, are: one in which everything except starch is recycled, with starch being composted, and the other in which everything is incinerated. Among the several environmental impact categories which can be analysed, this paper considers only global warming. Two approaches are tested to combine the economic and environmental aspects—normalisation, weighting and aggregating on the one hand, and using the carbon tax to internalise the externality caused by GHG emissions on the other. For the set of weighting factors obtained thanks to a survey conducted by the authors (40.6% for environmental and 59.4% for economic), starch emerges as the most sustainable alternative, followed by polyethylene for both the end-of-life handling scenarios. This tallies with the result obtained by using the carbon tax for internalisation of the externality. The case study, methodology and results presented in this paper, will hopefully be a springboard for more detailed studies of this nature, under the umbrella of sustainability

Influence of kaolin addition on the dynamics of oxygen mass transport in polyvinyl alcohol dispersion coatings

The permeability of dispersion barriers produced from polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and kaolin clay blends coated onto polymeric supports has been studied by employing two different measurement methods: the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and the ambient oxygen ingress rate (AOIR). Coatings with different thicknesses and kaolin contents were studied. Structural information of the dispersion-barrier coatings was obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These results showed that the kaolin content influences both the orientation of the kaolin and the degree of crystallinity of the PVOH coating. Increased kaolin content increased the alignment of the kaolin platelets to the basal plane of the coating. Higher kaolin content was accompanied by higher degree of crystallinity of the PVOH. The barrier thickness proved to be less important in the early stages of the mass transport process, whereas it had a significant influence on the steady-state permeability. The results from this study demonstrate the need for better understanding of how permeability is influenced by (chemical and physical) structure.Ingår i lic.uppsats Structural Studies and Modelling of Oxygen Transport in Barrier Materials for Food Packaging som manuskript med titeln: Influence of kaolin addition in polyvinyl alcohol dispersion coating on the dynamics of oxygen mass transport.</p

The influence of moisture content on the polymer structure of polyvinyl alcohol in dispersion barrier coatings and its effect on the mass transport of oxygen

This paper presents a study of the effect of moisture on the gas permeability of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and PVOH–kaolin dispersion barrier coatings. The oxygen permeability was measured at different humidity levels, and the material properties were characterized under the same conditions: polymer crystallinity, kaolin concentration, and kaolin orientation were all evaluated. The experimental results revealed that the water plasticizes the PVOH material of the coatings, and the presence of kaolin filler is unable to affect such behavior significantly. The PVOH crystallinity was affected drastically by the humidity, as water melts polymer crystallites, which is a reversible process under removal of water. The permeability data were analyzed using a thermodynamicbased model able to account for the water effect on both the solubility of the gas and the diffusivity coefficients in the polymer and composite. The results showed good agreement between the model’s predictions and the experimental data in terms of the overall permeability of the material