Crystallization Flashcards
is the formation of solid particles within a homogeneous phase.
Crystallization
Crystallization may be carried out from
vapor, melt, or solution
Most of the industrial applications of crystallization involve crystallization from
Solutions
formation of solid particles in a vapor
Snow
solidification from a liquid melt
as freezing of water to ice
formation of solid crystals from a solution
as the formation of Glauber’s salt from Na2SO4 solution
is the process whereby a solution is supersaturated so as to cause formation of crystals
Crystallization
Its wide use has two - fold basis:
- A crystal formed from an impure solution is itself pure (unless mixed crystals occur)
- Crystallization affords a practical way of obtaining pure chemical substance in a satisfactory condition for packaging and storing.
The rate of crystallization involves two distinct actions:
- The rate of formation of new crystals (nucleation)
- The rate of precipitation on crystals already present (crystal growth to macroscopic size)
The two rates of crystallization’s driving force
supersaturation
The two rates of crystallization can’t occur in
a saturated or undersaturated solution
Methods of supersaturating the solutions:
- By cooling
- By evaporation of solvent
- By adiabatic evaporation with cooling
- By addition of a third component where the solubility of the solute is sharply reduced
- By addition of a third component which will react with original solute to form an insoluble product.
The extent of the supersaturation depends upon
- The number and shape of crystals upon which precipitation occurs
- The temperature levels
- The solution concentration
- The violence of the agitation present
The heat effects in a crystallization process can be computed by two methods:
- A heat balance
- An enthalpy balance
can be made in which individual heat effects such as sensible heats, latent heats, and the heat of crystallization can be combined into an equation for total heat effects.
heat balance