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On supersaturation during mass crystallization from solution
Author(s) -
Kind Matthias,
Mersmann Alfons
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.270130108
Subject(s) - supersaturation , crystallization , nucleation , metastability , induction period , thermodynamics , kinetics , chemistry , materials science , chemical physics , chemical engineering , physics , organic chemistry , classical mechanics , engineering
Supersaturation is the driving force for crystallization from solution. For design and operation of crystallization processes, it is necessary to apply a set of criteria for the determination of appropriate or even optimum supersaturation. In this paper we present and discuss the results of our experimental and theoretical investigations on supersaturation during crystallization from solution. While the determination of the metastable zone width of the solution is frequently applied as a fast check on solution behaviour, we demonstrate that the determination of the induction period of the supersaturated solution is a useful aid in ascertaining the maximum allowable supersaturation. Theoretical considerations and experiments confirm that the induction period dependssoley on growth kinetics if secondary nucleation is the predominant mechanism. In order to avoid uncontrollable spontaneous value of between 70 and 130 μm during crystallization. Since growth kinetics turns out to be the only important system property for the determination of maximum possible supersaturation, we conclude the paper with some arguments concerning a closed representation of growth kinetics.