Transient Analysis of Crystallization: Effect of the Initial Size Distribution

The effect of seed size distribution on the transient and steady-state crystal size distribution in a continuous mixed suspension, mixed product removal crystallizer has been analyzed and simulated from a stochastic point of view. The resultant stochastic model provides an easier way of obtaining the dynamic information on the performance of the crystallizer under consideration than the conventional population balance techniques. Moreover, the moments of the number of crystals at each size can be evaluated. Simulation results indicate that the seed size distribution gives rise to a maximum in the crystal size distribution. The steady-state representation can be recovered from the resultant dynamic model; it reduces to the conventional deterministic population balance model under the condition of no random variation.