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1627605 
Technical Report 
Some physical characteristics of sugar crystals affecting dust formation 
Farag, SA; Schmalz, CL; Norman, LW 
1971 
HEEP/72/09386 
16 
6 
448-456 
HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. The compressive and impact strength of sugar crystals were studied after a method for measuring the dust was developed. The amount of sugar dust in a sugar sample was obtained as follows. The sugar sample was added to a solution of sucrose saturated isopropyl alcohol and lightly agitated. This caused the suspension of the finely divided sugar particles which were labeled as dust. Careful decanting of 3-5 portions of sucrose saturated isopropanol off of the sample allowed quantitative removal of the sugar dust. The combined supernatant was then filtered through a membrane filter. Then, by drying the filter to a constant weight, the percent dust in the sample could be calculated. Two bench instruments were devised to measure the compressive and impact strengths. Those instruments enabled one to obtain objective measurements of greater precision and validity than the subjective techniques previously used. Measurements showed that sugar handling, loading and shipment may increase dust levels 3-5 times the level in the original product from the granulator. The study indicated a tendency for some sugars to form dust more readily than others. Subsequent tests showed: the compressive strength is inversely proportional to the square root of the surface area, but impact strength is independent of the average crystal surface area; heating produced no significant difference in the compressive strength, but lowered the impact strength significantly; lower relative humidity improved both compressive and impact strengths and consequently lowered the dusting characteristics.