Construction of 2D transparent micromodels in polyester resin with porosity similar to carrots

Abstract

Microscopic visualization, especially in transparent micromodels, canprovide valuable information to understand the transport phenomena atpore scale in different process occurring in porous materials (food,timber, soils, etc.). Micromodels studies focus mainly on theobservation of multi-phase flow, which presents a greater proximity toreality. The aim of this study was to study the process of flexographyand its application in the manufacture of polyester resin transparentmicromodels and its application to carrots. Materials used to implementa flexo station for micromodels construction were thermoregulated waterbath, exposure chamber to UV light, photosensitive substance(photopolymer), RTV silicone polyester resin, and glass plates. In thispaper, data on size distribution of a particular kind of carrot we used,and a transparent micromodel with square cross-section as well as aLog-normal pore size distribution with pore radii ranging from 10 to 110mu m (average of 22 mu m and micromodel size of 10 x 10 cm) were built.Finally, it stresses that it has successfully implemented the protocolprocessing 2D polyester resin transparent micromodels.