Daniel Sujo N.1, Stephanie Farrell2, and Robert P. Hesketh2. (1) Siegfried (USA), Inc., Pennsville, NJ, (2) Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
An industrial crystallization system was analyzed using a green engineering approach. The current method to crystallize a metal catalyst species is to using a stirred tank with a semibatch feed system. A double-feed reactor configuration was also examined and found to improve this process. This new scheme reduces the turnaround batch time by 90% and the environmental impact by 30%, compared to the current single-feed operation scheme. The experiments showed that operating in a double feed mode allowed the crystallization to be conducted at a constant pH which resulted in a high purity, larger particle size. From this, a high settling velocity was achieved and resulted in a reduction in batch time. In addition, additional experiments showed a relationship between the pH and the size of the agglomerates and the purity of the crystals. Further research on the crystallization mechanism and kinetics is strongly recommended.