Oxxygen Perm
meabilityy Test Metthod of Pu
udding C
Cups

Abstract:

Pudding cuups need to have

h effectiive oxygen barrier prop
perties to gu
uarantee thee quality of its shelf lifee.
This articlee introduces an oxygeen transmis sion rate teest method to test thee pudding cup,c i.e. thee
coulometricc method. The
T test priinciple, insttrument feaatures, speccifications, and testing
g proceduress
are all inccluded in thhis article, which maay provide reference for oxygenn permeabiility test of
packaging ccontainers.

Key Words:

Oxygen Trransmissionn Rate, Oxyygen Permeeability, Co

oulometric Method,
M Eqqual Pressu
ure Methodd,
Oxygen Traansmission Rate Test System,
S Puddding Cup, Container,
C Package
P

1. Significaance

Cup shapedd containerss are used to t pack puddding produ ucts to keepp the shapee of puddingg and avoidd
deformationn caused in the transpo ortation andd storage proocess. Milk, eggs, and fruit juice are
a the mainn
raw materiaals used to make pudd ding. These ingregientss are liable to be oxidiized, which h in turn cann
cause the lloss of nutrrients, inferrior taste, aand deteriorration. Therefore, thesse packagess need highh
oxygen barrrier charcteeristics.

Pudding cuups are mainnly made off glass and plastic. Plaastic cups arre widely uused as they
y are easy too
transport. T
There is a significant
s difference
d iin the oxyg
gen permeab bility rate bbetween varrious plasticc
materials oof pudding cups. Even n for the ssame materiial, due to the differeences in thickness andd
process tecchnique, thee oxygen permeability
p y may be noticably
n different.
d Thherefore, precise OTR R
readings for the cups are
a crucial for
f maintainning quality control.

Figuree 1. Pudding
g Cups

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nstrumentss Co., Ltd. Phone: + 8
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2. Test Speecimen

One type off plastic puddding cups was tested ffor its oxyg
gen transmisssion rate.

3. Test Stan
ndard

There are tw
wo main test methods of oxygen ttransmissio
on rate of paackaging maaterials, i.e.. differentiaal
pressure meethod and coulometric
c method (eqqual pressurre method). The tests m
mentioned in n this articlee
were perforrmed accordding to AST
TM F1307-002: Standard Test Meth hod for Oxyygen Transm mission Ratee
through Dryy Packages Using a Cooulometric S
Sensor.

4. Testing IInstrumentt

The testingg instrumentt used in th

he tests menntioned in th
his article was
w C230H
H Oxygen Transmission
T n
Rate Test S
System, mannufactured byb Labthinkk Instrumentts Co. Ltd.

F
Figure 230H Oxyggen Transmiission Rate Test System
2. C2 m

4.1 Test Priinciple

The testingg process can be dividded into tw

wo parts i.e. permeatio on process and detectiion processs.
Oxygen andd nitrogen with
w same pressure
p aree injected in
nto the spacce on the tw
wo sides of the
t clampedd
specimen. DDue to the concentratiion differennce, the oxyygen permeeates througgh the speccimen to thee
nitrogen side. The cooulometric sensor
s geneerates an electrical siggnal as the oxygen co oncentrationn
increases byy which thee OTR can be
b calculateed by the system.

4.2 Instrum
ment Featurees

m/sheeting iss 0.01 ~ 2000 cm3/(m2·d

The test rannge for film day). The teest range foor package is
i 0.00005 ~

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nstrumentss Co., Ltd. Phone: + 8
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1 cm3/(pkgg·day), withh the resoluttion of 0.0001 cm3/(m2·day).
· The repeatability
r y is 0.01 cmm3/(m2·day)
or 2%. Thee internal temperature
t e and humi dity of the instrumentt are autom matically addjusted withh
temperaturee and humiidity sensorrs, maintainning the stabbility of thee test specimmen enviro onment. Thee
test temperrature rangee is (10±0.2)℃ ~ (55± ±0.2)℃. Thee test humid dity range iis 0%RH, (5 5±1) %RH~ ~
(90±1)%RH H and 100% %RH. Threee identical oor distinct specimens
s can
c be testeed simultan neously. Thee
2 TM
specimen siize is 108 mm
m × 108 mm. m The testt area is 50 cm . Uniqu ue DataShieeld system m (optional)),
meets the rrequirementts for centraalized manaagement of user data. It I supports a variety off formats of
exported daata. Reliablle security algorithms are used to o prevent data
d leakagee. It supporrts universaal
wired and wwireless LAAN, optionall private wirreless network, and sup pports thirdd-party softw
ware.

4.3 Applicaation Scope

(1) The innstrument is i applicablle to determ

mining the OTR of vaarious plastiic films, paaper, plasticc
composite films, co-eextruded fillms, aluminnum coated d films, aluuminum pllastic comp posite filmss,
sheeting off PP, PVC, PVDC, mettal sheet, ruubber sheet, silicon waafers, wine bottles, botttles, peanuut
oil bucket, tetra pak,, vacuum packaging
p bbag, three-piece metaal can, plasstic cosmettic packagee,
toothpaste ttubes, jelly cups, and yogurt
y cups..

(2) The innstrument can

c also be used to tesst the oxygeen barrier property
p of sealing lid, solar paneel
sheet, pipess, medical blister
b pack, automotivee fuel tanks, and battery shell, etc..

(3) The innstrument conforms to various Chhinese and internationaal standardss such as GB/T
G 197899,
GB/T 313554, ASTM D3985,
D AST TM F1307, ASTM F19 927, DIN 53380-3,
5 JISS K7126-2-B and YBB B
00082003.

5. Testing P
Process

（1）Seal the specim men in the fixture

f for package teest with rap
pid adhesivee. Next, waait until thee
adhesives gget solidified. Install th
he fixture w
with specimeen on the instrument annd seal it wiith a sealingg
bag. There is a packagge hood that controls thhe temperatu ure.

(2) Set sppecimen nam

me, test tem
mperature, hhumidity an
nd other test parameteers. Click Start
S Test too
start the tesst.

(3) The iinstrument automaticaally controols temperaature and humidity.

h T
The test is performedd
automaticallly. Test resuults are disp
played afterr tests.

6. Test Ressult

In this test, the oxygenn transmission rate of thhe test specimen was 0.56315 cm3 /(pkg·day)..

7. Conclusion

Labthink In
nstrumentss Co., Ltd. Phone: + 8
86‐531‐85068566 Email: trad
E de5@labthink.com  
  
The oxygenn permeabiility represeents the oxyxygen barrieer property of a puddiing cup. Pu udding cupss
need to havve an effective oxygen barrier prooperty to gu
uarantee the quality of tthe productt’s shelf lifee.
This articlee introducedd an OTR teest of a puddding cup using
u the co
oulometric mmethod (equ ual pressuree
method).

Labthink Innstruments Co. Ltd. is a testing teechnology company

c fo
ocused on m material ressearch alongg
with manuffacturing of packaging g testing innstruments and commeercial testinng services.. Labthink’ss
instrumentss are widelly applied in
i industriees such as food
f packaging, pharm maceuticals, householdd
chemicals, packaging materials, printing,
p auutomotive, electronics, third-partyy testing orrganizationss,
and academ
mic institutioons.

Labthink In
nstrumentss Co., Ltd. Phone: + 8
86‐531‐85068566 Email: trad
E de5@labthink.com