KRISTALIZIMI (Crystallization)

PRINCIPLES OF CRYSTALLIZATION

Crystals A crystal may be defined as a solid composed of atoms arranged in an orderly, repetitive array. The interatomic distances in a crystal of any definite material are constant and are characteristic of that material. Because the pattern or arrangement of the atoms is repeated in all directions, there are definite restrictions on the kinds of symmetry that crystals can possess. There are five main types of crystals, and these types have been arranged into seven crystallographic systems based on the crystal interfacial angles and the relative length of its axes. The treatment of the description and arrangement of the atomic structure of crystals is the science of crystallography. The material in this discussion will be limited to a treatment of the growth and production of crystals as a unit operation. Solubility and Phase Diagrams Equilibrium relations for crystallization systems are expressed in the form of solubility data which are plotted as phase diagrams or solubility curves. Solubility data are ordinarily given as parts by weight of anhydrous material per 100 parts

by weight of total solvent. In some cases these data are reported as parts by weight of anhydrous material per 100 parts of solution. If water of crystallization is present in the crystals, this is indicated as a separate phase. The concentration is normally plotted as a function of temperature and has no general shape or slope. It can also be reported as a function of pressure, but for most materials the change in solubility with change in pressure is very small. If there are two components in solution, it is common to plot the concentration of these two components on the X and Y axes and represent the solubility by isotherms. When three or more components are present, there are various techniques for depicting the solubility and phase relations in both threedimension and two-dimension models. For a description of these techniques, refer to Campbell and Smith (loc. cit.). Shown in Fig. 18-56 is a phase diagram for magnesium sulfate in water. The line p–a represents the freezing points of ice (water) from solutions of magne-

GENERAL REFERENCES:

AIChE Testing Procedures: Crystallizers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, New York, 1970; Evaporators, 1961. Bennett, Chem. Eng. Prog., 58(9), 76 (1962). Buckley, Crystal Growth,Wiley, New York, 1951. Campbell and Smith, Phase Rule, Dover, New York, 1951. De Jong and Jancic (eds.), Industrial Crystallization, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1979. “Crystallization from Solution: Factors Influencing Size Distribution,” Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser., 67(110), (1971). Mullin (ed.), Industrial Crystallization, Plenum, New York, 1976. Newman and Bennett, Chem. Eng. Prog., 55(3), 65 (1959). Palermo and Larson (eds.), “Crystallization from Solutions and Melts,” Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser., 65(95), (1969). Randolph (ed.), “Design, Control and Analysis of Crystallization Processes,” Am. Inst. Chem. Eng. Symp. Ser., 76(193), (1980). Randolph and Larson, Theory of Particulate Processes, Academic, New York, 2d ed., 1988. Rousseau and Larson (eds.), “Analysis and Design of Crystallization Processes,” Am. Inst. Chem. Eng. Symp. Ser., 72(153), (1976). Seidell, Solubilities of Inorganic and Metal Organic Compounds, American Chemical Society, Washington, 1965. Myerson (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Crystallization, Butterworth, 1993. Crystallization is important as an industrial process because of the number of materials that are and can be marketed in the form of crystals. Its wide use is probably due to the highly purified and attractive form of a chemical solid which can be obtained from relatively impure solutions in a single processing step. In terms of energy requirements, crystallization requires much less energy for separation than do distillation and other commonly used methods of purification. In addition, it can be performed at relatively low temperatures and on a scale which varies from a few grams up to thousands of tons per day. Crystallization may be carried out from a vapor, from a melt, or from a solution. Most of the industrial applications of the operation involve crystallization from solutions. Nevertheless, crystal solidification of metals is basically a crystallization process, and much theory has been developed in relation to metal crystallization. This topic is so specialized, however, that it is outside the scope of this subsection, which is limited to crystallization from solution.