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Crystallization
Basic Concepts and Industrial Applications
Crystallization Overview
Crystallization is a naturally occurring process but also a process abundantly used in the industry. It can occur from a solution, from the melt, or via deposition of material from the gas phase (desublimation). Crystals distinguish themselves from liquids, gases, and amorphous substances by the long-range order of their building blocks, which entails the crystals to be formed of well-defined faces and gives rise to a large number of properties of the solid.
Applications and Scale
Crystallization is used at some stage in nearly all process industries as a method of production, purification, or recovery of solid materials. It is practiced on all scales: from the isolation of the first milligrams of a newly synthesized substance in the research laboratory to isolating products on the multi-million tonne scale in industry. The book describes the breadth of crystallization operations, from isolation from a reaction broth to purification and finally to tailoring product properties.
Basic Mechanisms
In the first section of the book, the basic mechanisms — nucleation, growth, attrition, and agglomeration — are introduced. It ensures an understanding of supersaturation, the driving force of crystallization. Furthermore, the solubility of the substance and its dependences on process conditions and the various techniques of crystallization, along with their possibilities and limitations, are discussed. Last but not least, the first part includes an intensive treatment of polymorphism.
Process Development and Techniques
The second part builds on the basics, exploring how crystallization processes can be developed, either batch-wise or continuous, from solution or from the melt. A discussion of the purification during crystallization serves as a link between the two sections, where practical aspects and an insight using theoretical concepts are combined. Mixing and its influence on the crystallization, as well as the mutual interference of downstream processes with crystallization, are also treated. Finally, techniques to characterize the crop are discussed.
Recent Developments and Strategies
The third part of the book is dedicated to accounts of actual developments and carried-out crystallizations. Typical pitfalls and strategies to avoid these, as well as the design of robust processes, are presented.
