THERMAL STUDY OF A TRIGLYCERIDE MIXTURE

Abstract

The heat capacity and the enthalpy of crystallization of the crystalline phases at the end of cooling must be known in order to determine the excess energy of mixing two pure triglycerides, trilaurin and trimyristin, cooled at different cooling rates. The present investigation was carried out using Differential Scanning Calorimetry, DSC, Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry, MDSC®, and Thermal Relaxation (in a Physical Properties Measurement System, PPMS). It was found that enthalpy of crystallization values can be measured to within ? 2% (SE) with DSC Q100 TA Instruments. To achieve this, an experimental procedure and a data analysis method are proposed. It was not possible in this study to obtain accurate and reproducible heat capacity values using a DSC Q100 instrument. The values were shown to be significantly by the position of the sample pan in the measuring sensor. PPMS Cp values were within the literature values.