Course content

The course is given autumn or spring, by agreement.
The course gives a theoretical and practical treatment of mechanisms and kinetics in the industrial crystallization and precipitation of solid material from liquid phase. Crystallization processes by reaction and precipitation, salting out, cooling, and evaporation will be discussed. Experimental techniques and interpretation of experimental data as a basis for the choice and operation of crystallizers of stategies for scale prevention and nano-particle design, will be emphasized. The effect of supersaturation, temperature and solution chemistry on the kinetics and mechanisms of nucleation, crystal growth, and agglomeration is a central part of the course. The influence of these processes on the crystal size distribution will be treated by an analysis of the population balance equations.

Learning outcome

The students should be able to design industrial crystallizers and to choose particle design strategies, based on a deep understanding of the conditions that control the particle size distribution of the crystalline product. In addition they should also be able to predict how the product is influenced by parameters that affect the kinetics of nucleation and particle growth.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures/colloquium/exercises/project report.

Compulsory assignments

• Exercises

Recommended previous knowledge

Basic knowledge in solid-state chemistry and chemical reaction engineering.

Course materials

J.W. Mullin: Crystallization, 4th Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., London 2001.
Handouts.

Credit reductions