THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNAL CRYSTAL PERFECTION ON GROWTH-RATE DISPERSION IN A CONTINUOUS SUSPENSION CRYSTALLIZER

The objective of the work presented here is to demonstrate the influence of induced lattice strain on growth behaviour of potassium alum crystals in a continuously operated mixed suspension mixed product removal (MSMPR) crystallizer. Therefore crystal size distributions in the crystallizer and individual growth velocities, especially of small particles (initial size 20-60 mu m) in a flow-through cell, were simultaneously determined. Moreover Laue diffraction patterns of crystals withdrawn from the MSMPR crystallizer were carried out indicating lattice deformation and strain. Most crystals exhibit constant crystal growth (CCG) behaviour with significant growth rate dispersion. The mean growth rate of small particles in the sub-sieve size range is considerably smaller than the mean rate of product sized crystals at constant supersaturation. Small potash alum crystals show a clear tendency of increased lattice strain with increasing supersaturation which can be explained by the refaceting process of attrition nuclei in the crystallizer. The average amount of induced strain in crystals having the same growth history is obviously related to crystal size. Only slightly strained particles with sufficiently high growth rates will reach the product size range in the MSMPR crystallizer.