Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Crystallization is the process of solid particles forming within a homogenous phase. It is the slow precipitation of solid crystals from the solution. It is referred as liquid solid separation and purification technique. In chemical engineering crystallization occurs in crystallizers. It is an aspect of precipitation which is obtained through a variation of the solubility conditions of the solute in the solvent.
CRYSTALLIZERS
Crystallizer is the type of equipment that are used to produce crystals. They maybe lab scale or industrial scale in size. Commercial crystallizers may operate either continuously or batch wise. Except for special applications, continuous operation is preferred. There are following type of Crystallizers. Vacuum Crystallizers Draft Tube-Baffle Crystallizer Forced Circulation Crystallizer
Vacuum Crystallizers
Vacuum crystallizers are those in which adiabatic evaporative cooling is used to create super saturation. In its original and simplest form, such a crystallizer is a closed vessel in which a vacuum is maintained by a condenser, usually with the help of a steam-jet vacuum pump, or booster, placed between the crystallizer and the condenser. A warm saturated solution at a temperature well above the boiling point at the pressure in the crystallizer is fed to the vessel.
A magma volume is maintained by controlling the level of the liquid and crystallizing solid in the vessel, and the space 'above the magma is used for release of vapor and elimination of entrainment. The feed solution cools spontaneously to the equilibrium temperature; since both the enthalpy of cooling and the enthalpy of crystallization appear. as enthalpy of vaporization, a portion of the solvent evaporates. The super saturation generated by both cooling and evaporation causes nucleation and growth. Product magma is drawn from the bottom of the crystallizer. The theoretical yield of crystals is proportional to the difference between the concentration of the feed and the solubility of the solute at equilibrium temperature.
The phenomena of Evaporation and cooling occur only in the liquid layer near the magma surface thus Gradients of temperature and concentrations are formed near the surface. The newly formed Crystals tend to settle at the bottom of the crystallizer and at the bottom small saturation occurs. It provides no good method for nucleation control, for classification, or for removal of excess nuclei and very small crystals.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES They can be equipped with a baffled settling zone for fines
removal
They can also be used with elutriation leg below the body to
classify crystal size of the newly formed crystals
The efficiency of this crystallizer is low for high density slurries To minimize the deposits and accumulations, frequently flushing
is required.
of the crystallizer body. The crystals are removed and the vaporized solvent is condensed and returned to the crystallizer body.