A new mechanism for nuclei formation in suspension crystallizers: the role of interparticle forces

✍ Scribed by Ru-Ying Qian; Gregory D. Botsaris

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 1020 KB
• Volume: 52
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0009-2509
• DOI: 10.1016/s0009-2509(97)89691-1

✦ Synopsis

This paper brings together the current nucleation models and the theories describing the behavior of collodial suspensions. In particular this study explores the interparticle attractive forces acting between the embryos in the solution-whose existence is postulated by the classical nucleation theory-and most importantly between the embryos and the much larger crystal seeds in a suspension crystallizer. The paper shows that these forces are too important in most cases to be neglected. They actually lead to a high concentration of embryos at the immediate vicinity of the crystal seeds. This high concentration near the crystal seed surfaces promotes a rapid coagulation of the embryos to produce particles larger than the critical nuclei. The proposed nucleation model, termed Embryos Coagulation Secondary Nucleation (ECSN), provides an explanation for an experimentally observed type of secondary nucleation.