Abstract

It is necessary to study the pore-scale process to comprehend freeze-drying. Our objective was to study the morphology of the sublimation interface (drying front) at pore-scale to gain a better understanding of the mass transport mechanisms that occurs at pore-level. Firstly, we built some glass micromodels using a photolithographic technique. The micromodel was saturated with distilled water and frozen to -85 °C and then put into a laboratory lyophilizer r (Christ(R), model Beta 1-8 LD). We report preliminary results at pore-level of vapor and ice distribution in a porous structure as mass transport in the freeze-drying process advances.