Editing Emulsion (section)

===Accelerating methods for shelf life prediction===
The kinetic process of destabilization can be rather long&nbsp;– up to several months, or even years for some products.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Xiangxiang |first=Daily |url=https://xiangxiangdaily.com/emulsifying-guide-advanced-techniques-industrial-application/ |title=Emulsifying Guide: Advanced Techniques & Industrial Application |date=2024-08-05 |language=en}}</ref> Often the formulator must accelerate this process in order to test products in a reasonable time during product design. Thermal methods are the most commonly used – these consist of increasing the emulsion temperature to accelerate destabilization (if below critical temperatures for phase inversion or chemical degradation).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Masmoudi|first1=H.|last2=Dréau|first2=Y. Le |last3=Piccerelle |first3=P. |last4=Kister |first4=J.|date=2005-01-31|title=The evaluation of cosmetic and pharmaceutical emulsions aging process using classical techniques and a new method: FTIR|journal=International Journal of Pharmaceutics|volume=289|issue=1|pages=117–131 |doi=10.1016/j.ijpharm.2004.10.020|pmid=15652205|issn=0378-5173|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03543083/file/The%20evaluation%20of%20cosmetic%20and%20pharmaceutical%20emulsions%20%20YLD%20Masmoudi.pdf}}</ref> Temperature affects not only the viscosity but also the interfacial tension in the case of non-ionic surfactants or, on a broader scope, interactions between droplets within the system. Storing an emulsion at high temperatures enables the simulation of realistic conditions for a product (e.g., a tube of sunscreen emulsion in a car in the summer heat), but also accelerates destabilization processes up to 200 times.{{Citation needed|date= February 2018}}

Mechanical methods of acceleration, including vibration, centrifugation, and agitation, can also be used.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Editorial Board Entrée |title=Emulsions |url=https://www.thermopedia.com/content/274/ |website=Thermopedia |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref>

These methods are almost always empirical, without a sound scientific basis.{{Citation needed|date= February 2018}}