S-L-G (solid-liquid-gas) phase transition of cocoa butter in supercriticalCO2

dPhase equilibrium data (solid-liquid-gas) for cocoa butler and carbon diox ide were determined in view of their importance in design of PGSS (particle s from gas saturated solutions) micronization process. The mutual solubilit y in the system cocoa butter/CO2 was measured by the static-analytic method in the temperature range of 30-80 degrees C and pressure range of 1-30 MPa . The experiments on solid-liquid (S-L) transition for cocoa butter in the presence of carbon dioxide were performed by the modified capillary method in a high pressure optical cell. For the production of finely dispersed coc oa butter by expanding CO2-saturated solutions, the initial guess indicates that the starting conditions should be near the liquefaction curve in orde r to allow the solid-liquid region to be reached after expansion.