Antisolvent Crystallization as an Alternative to Evaporative Crystallization for the Production of Sodium Chloride

A comparison has been made between the antisolvent crystallization of NaCl with diisopropylamine and the traditional four-effect evaporative crystallization of NaCl. Calculations demonstrated that for a 1 Mton/year salt production plant with an on-site integrated steam power plant the reduction in energy costs can be 29% if antisolvent crystallization is applied. The estimated fixed capital costs, however, are 8−55% higher for the antisolvent crystallization of NaCl, depending on the process configuration used. As a result of the higher fixed capital costs, the costs in the production of NaCl are lower for the four-effect evaporative crystallization route in all cases.