Supersaturations cooling

Better product characteristics are obtained through control of the rate at which supersaturation (cooling, evaporation, and addition of a nonsolvent or precipitant) is generated. An objective of the operation may be to maintain the supersaturation at some constant prescribed value, usually below the metastable limit associated with primary nucleation. For example, the batch may be cooled slowly at the beginning of the cycle and more rapidly at the end. 

Frequently, vapor-phase supersaturation is studied not by varying the vapor pressure P directly but rather by cooling the vapor and thus changing If To is the temperature at which the saturation pressure is equal to the actual pressure P, then at any temperature T, Pjf = x is given by... 

It is a well-known fact that substances like water and acetic acid can be cooled below the freezing point in this condition they are said to be supercooled (compare supersaturated solution). Such supercooled substances have vapour pressures which change in a normal manner with temperature the vapour pressure curve is represented by the dotted line ML —a continuation of ML. The curve ML lies above the vapour pressure curve of the solid and it is apparent that the vapour pressure of the supersaturated liquid is greater than that of the solid. The supercooled liquid is in a condition of metastabUity. As soon as crystallisation sets in, the temperature rises to the true freezing or melting point. It will be observed that no dotted continuation of the vapour pressure curve of the solid is shown this would mean a suspended transformation in the change from the solid to the liquid state. Such a change has not been observed nor is it theoretically possible. 

Method 1. Dissolve 76 g. of thiourea in 200 ml. of warm water in a 750 ml. or 1 litre round-bottomed flask. Dilute the solution with 135 ml. of rectified spirit and add 126-5 g. of benzyl chloride. Heat the mixture under reflux on a water bath until the benzyl chloride dissolves (about 15 minutes) and for a further 30 minutes taking care that the mixture is well shaken from time to time. Cool the mixture in ice there is a tendency to supersaturation so that it is advisable to stir (or shake) the cold solution vigorously, when the substance crystallises suddenly. Filter off the sohd at the pump. Evaporate the filtrate to about half bulk in order to recover a further small quantity of product. Dry the compound upon filter paper in the air. The yield of hydrochloric acid filter off the sohd which separates on cooling. Concentrate the filtrate to recover a further small quantity. The yield of recrystalhsed salt, m.p. 175° is 185 g. some of the dimorphic form, m.p. 150°, may also separate. 

If small specimens are prepared in which the austenite can be cooled to 250—500°C sufficiendy rapidly to avoid the above microconstituents, and transformed at temperatures in this range, the formation of a completely different phase, a bcc a-phase supersaturated with carbon and containing small cementite particles (bainite), which is both strong and tough, occurs. Bainite is rarely found in plain carbon steels, but it can be obtained in commercial practice by judicious alloying and is increasing in importance. 

Crystallization batches range from 30,000 to 60,000 Hters for each pan. Continuous centrifugals are typically used for second, third, and affination steps continuous vacuum pans are less common but are used in the U.S. for intermediate strikes. Most horizontal batch crystallizers have been replaced by continuous units, and all are designed for controlled cooling of the massecuite to maintain supersaturation. 

Batch Crystallization. Crystal size distributions obtained from batch crystallizers are affected by the mode used to generate supersaturation and the rate at which supersaturation is generated. For example, in a cooling mode there are several avenues that can be followed in reducing the temperature of the batch system, and the same can be said for the generation of supersaturation by evaporation or by addition of a nonsolvent or precipitant. The complexity of a batch operation can be ihustrated by considering the summaries of seeded and unseeded operations shown in Figure 19. 

Control of supersaturation is an important factor in obtaining crystal size distributions of desired characteristics, and it would be useful to have a model relating rate of cooling or evaporation or addition of diluent required to maintain a specified supersaturation in the crystallizer. Contrast this to the uncontrolled situation of natural cooling in which the heat transfer rate is given by... 

Mixing of two saturated streams at different temperatures. This is commonly seen in the plume from a stack. Since vapor pressure is an exponential function of temperature, the resultant mixture of two saturated streams will be supersaturated at the mixed temperature. Uneven flow patterns and cooling in heat exchangers make this route to supersaturation difficult to prevent. 

Although surface-cooled types of MSMPR crystalhzers are available, most users prefer crystallizers employing vaporization of solvents or of refrigerants. The primary reason for this preference is that heat transferred through the critical supersaturating step is through a boil-ing-hquid-gas surface, avoiding the troublesome solid deposits that can form on a metal heat-transfer surface. 

An Oslo surface-cooled crystallizer is illustrated in Fig. 18-71. Supersaturation is developed in the circulated liquor by chilling in the cooler H. This supersaturated liquor is contacted with the suspension of ciystals in the suspension chamber at E. At the top of the suspension chamber a stream of mother hquor D can be removed to be used for fines removal and destruction. This feature can be added on either type of equipment. Fine ciystals withdrawn from the top of the suspension are destroyed, thereby reducing the overall number of ciys-tals in the system and increasing the particle size of the remaining product ciystals. 

Crystallization generally involves the evaporation and subsequent cooling of a solution to the point of supersaturation, whereupon the formation of crystals takes place. Modern technology often focus on the control of crystal size, since product demands frequently are rigorous in this regard. The process of crystallization is often conducted in evaporators. As in the evaporation of salt and in the recovery of salt and glycerin in soap manufacturing, salt separators are used to remove crystallized materials as rapidly as it settles. 

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