RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 8 No. 1, December 1996, p. 37-44

ULTRASONIC STUDIES OF PALM OIL AND OTHER VEGETABLE OILS

SIDEK, H. A. A.*; CHOW, S. P.*; SHAARI, A. H.*; SENIN, H. B.*

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the propagation and the attenuation of sound waves in crude palm oil (CPO), refined bleached deodorized (RBD) palm oil, palm olein and some other vegetable oils; coconut oils, corn oil and soyabean oil. The ultrasonic pulse echo overlapped technique has been employed to obtain the ultrasonic properties of the oils from room temperature up to 90°C. The velocity of sound in vegetable oil products decreases linearly with temperature, while their ultrasonic attenuation decreases exponentially with temperature. The ultrasonic properties of the oils are very dependent on their viscosity, density and molecular structure. The ultrasonic wave velocity and attenuation coefficient can be used as a basic tool to identify Malaysian palm oil.

KEYWORDS:


* Ultrasonic Research Laboratory,
Department of Physics,
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.