Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
L. Salcedo-Estrada
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacán 58000, Mexico
DOI 10.1002/aic.10133
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
A dynamic model of a batch crystallizer was used to estimate the kinetic parameters in
a sugar cane crystallization process. The mathematical model included mass, energy, and
population balance differential equations, and empirical relationships (power-law–type)
for nucleation, growth, and production–reduction rates. Experimental data were obtained
from runs carried out at different agitation and cooling profiles. A nonlinear optimization
process was used to fit 11 kinetic parameters to experimental data. The overall experi-
mental error was estimated in 7.71% and the average asymptotic error of all kinetic
parameters was less than 2%. The nucleation rate was favored by high agitation speed
and natural cooling profiles. The maximum growth rate was reached when supersatura-
tion was at a maximum. There was a no clear effect of agitation profiles on growth. The
overall effect of the term production–reduction was in all cases positive, with the largest
values found for natural cooling profiles. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers
AIChE J, 50: 1407–1417, 2004
Keywords: crystallization, kinetic, modeling, optimization, sugar cane
Introduction formed when nuclei appear and then grow. In the cooling
Crystallization is a solid–liquid separation process where crystallization process, the kinetics of nucleation and crystal
growth require supersaturation, which is obtained by a change
mass is transferred from a solute dissolved in a liquid phase to
in temperature. In continuous processes it is important to keep
a solid (crystal pure) phase. The crystallized solid particles
supersaturation at an optimum value that will yield a growth
form a homogeneous phase. At the industrial level, crystal
rate as high as possible and a low nucleation rate for a suffi-
products must have high purity, a specific crystal size distri-
ciently coarse crystal product to be formed. This condition
bution (CSD), and a desired crystal shape. Crystals with ran-
cannot be achieved in batch crystallization because supersatu-
dom CSD are not desired. To achieve a desired CSD it is
ration changes from the beginning to the end of the processing.
important to control supersaturation through cooling tempera-
Therefore, it is desirable to set a cooling profile that keeps
ture and agitation rate, among other factors. Crystals are
supersaturation almost constant to prevent high nucleation rates
and limits the number of new nuclei formed (Mersmann, 1995).
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to P. Quintana- On the other hand, agitation exerts an additional influence on
Hernández at pedro@iqcelaya.itc.mx.
CSD: low values induce agglomeration, aggregation, and floc-
© 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers culation of particles, whereas high values produce attrition and
0
nL 3dL (8)
⭸n 0, j⫹1 ⫺22n0, j ⫹ 36n1, j ⫺ 18n2, j ⫹ 4n3, j
⭸L
⫽
12␦
⫹ O共h4 兲 (17)
dC
dt
⫽ ⫺c Kv
V
Mw
3
冋冕 0
⬁
GnL2 dL ⫹ B0 L03
册 (9)
⭸n Lmax⫺1, j⫹1 4nL, j ⫹ 6nL⫺1, j ⫺ 12nL⫺2j ⫹ 2nL⫺3, j
⭸L
⫽
12␦
⫹ O共h4 兲
(19)
C共0兲 ⫽ C 0 (10)
⭸n Lmax, j⫹1 22nL, j ⫺ 36nL⫺1, j ⫹ 18nL⫺2, j ⫺ 4nL⫺3, j
⫽ ⫹ O共h4 兲
The energy balances inside the crystallizer and in the cooling ⭸L 12␦
jacket, with their respective initial conditions, are given as (20)
follows:
冋冕 册
Subscripts i refer to space coordinate and subscripts j to time
⬁
dT coordinate. Crystal size distribution, temperature profiles, and
VCp ⫽ ⫺⌬Hc c Kv V 3 GnL dL ⫹ B L
2 0 3
0 solute concentration were determined experimentally. The set
dt
0 of algebraic– differential–integral equations was solved using
⫺ U1 A1 共T ⫺ Tw 兲 (11) an initial crystal size value of 15.1260 m, increments of
20.2525 m, and a final value of 2000 m. The set of 101
ordinary differential equations was solved using a fourth-order
T共0兲 ⫽ T 0 (12) Runge–Kutta.
dT w
wCp wV w ⫽ wF winCp w共T win ⫺ T w兲 Methodology
dt
The experimental setup (Figure 1) consisted of a 2.5-dm3
⫹ U 1A 1共T ⫺ T w兲 ⫹ U 2A 2共T ex ⫺ T w兲 (13) jacketed glass vessel (Pignat, Dn 159Bx-Trasiego VT 14) with
four vertical evenly spaced wall baffles (to ensure a well-mixed
T w共0兲 ⫽ T w0 (14) suspension); an agitation motor of 0.37 kW (RW20DZM), with
a three-blade impeller; a 16-dm3 cooling tank (Huber HS40,
⫺40 to ⫹150°C), with an internal pump at a maximum flow
The heat of crystallization is calculated as suggested by Fer- rate of 18 dm3/min; and two peristaltic pumps.
nández and Ballester (1974) Three different cooling profiles were tested: natural, lin-
eal, and cubic (Mayrhofer and Nyvlt, 1988). The initial
⌬H c ⫽ ⫺12.2115 ⫺ 0.7937T (15) temperature in all runs was 70°C. The natural cooling profile
was obtained by introducing a step change of ⫺30 ⫾ 1°C in
In summary, the model includes 11 kinetic parameters: Kb, b, the cooling water flow rate. The linear and cubic profiles
j, p, Kg, g, q, Ka, a, k, and r that are estimated from experi- were obtained by manipulating both temperature and cool-
mental data. ing water flow rate. A computer program controlled the
progress of these profiles (Salcedo-Estrada et al., 2001).
After the initial 30-min stirring period, agitation speed was
Model solution
either kept constant or varied from 600 to 50 rpm following
The method of lines (Tsuruoka and Randolph, 1987) was different profiles (step, negative exponential, lineal, or cu-
used to solve the model. The set of partial differential equations bic). The time for each run was set to 180 min. Testing all
was transformed into a set of ordinary differential equations by combinations among cooling and agitation profiles generated 15
means of discretization of spatial variables (Vemuri and Kar- different experiments, as shown in Table 1.
plus, 1980). Equation 16 is applicable everywhere on the At the beginning of each run, a saturated solution was
discrete grid except on the boundary and one place before the prepared by dissolving 2528 g of sugar cane crystals in 800
boundary limits cm3 of distilled water at 70°C (total solution volume of 2230
cm3), as determined by Quintana-Hernandez et al. (2001). The
dn i, j⫹1
dt
⫽ ⫺Gj 冋
ni⫺2, j ⫺ 8ni⫺1, j ⫹ 8ni⫹1, j ⫺ ni⫹2, j
12␦
⫹ ␣共L兲j 册 mixture was agitated at 600 rpm for 30 min before the cooling
process started. Table 2 shows the complete set of parameters
used to solve the mathematical model.
(16) Crystal size distribution was measured on-line with a Mas-
terSizer S (Malvern Instruments Ltd., Worcestershire, UK).
where ␦ ⫽ Li⫹1 ⫺ Li ⫽ ⌬L. The particle size range, covered by the 300 mm lens used, was
For the boundary and one before the boundary limits, the 0.5– 880 m. The MasterSizer S generated relative volume
calculations are made as follows: distributions on 98 size classes based on a logarithmic grid.
Quintana-Hernandez et al., (2000) determined the solution for CSD, temperature, and supersaturation as functions of time.
maximum flow rate that eliminated the destructive effects of GREG calculates derivatives using finite differences and min-
measuring sugar cane crystals on-line. Reproducibility of mea- imizes a logarithmic sum of the determinant formed by the
surements carried out with the MasterSizer S were confirmed variance, V(b), among the estimated parameters . The optimi-
using the standards provided by Malvern Instruments Ltd. The zation model becomes
final product of each run was filtered and dried and its CSD was
verified off-line. Solution concentration was measured with an
Abbé refractometer (Atago USA, Kirkland, WA) every 10 min.
Crystallizer and jacket temperatures were registered continu- Table 2. Process Parameters for Solving Mass, Energy,
ously as functions of time. Computer sampling and storing and Population Balances
times varied at each run in the range of 5 to 12 min for CSD Variable Value Units Reference
and from 1 to 3 min for temperatures.
Cp s 2.4687 J/g °C Quintana et al., 2001
Kv /6 Beckman, 1994
Optimization U1 0.8354 J/°C 䡠 min 䡠 cm2 Quintana et al., 2001
A1 995.32 cm2 Quintana et al., 2001
Kinetic parameter estimation was done with the GREG V 2230 cm3 Bolaños, 2000
program (Stewart et al., 1987). A subroutine, MODEL, was c 1.588 g/cm3 Chen, 1991
implemented for nonlinear multivariable estimation. The pa- T0 70 °C Bolaños, 2000
rameter estimation was made based on the experimental data Lo 15.126 m Bolaños, 2000
⌬L 20.2525 m Bolaños, 2000
MT 3328 g Bolaños, 2000
Table 1. Experimental Design Followed to Generate Mw 800 g Moncada and Rodrı́guez, 1999
Experimental Data Ms 2528 g Moncada and Rodrı́guez, 1999
Jacket
Temperature Profiles Cp w 4.18 J/g °C Perry and Chilton, 1986
T wi 70 °C Bolaños, 2000
Agitation Profiles Natural Linear Cubic
U2 0.3236 J/°C 䡠 min 䡠 cm2 Quintana et al., 2001
Step 2 15 3 A2 1334.88 cm2 Quintana et al., 2001
Negative exponential 9 14 7 F wi 8100 cm3/min Bolaños, 2000
Linear 10 8 4 T ex 29 °C Bolaños, 2000
Cubic 1 12 11 w 1.0 g/cm3 Perry and Chilton, 1986
Constant at 600 rpm 6 13 5 Vw 820 cm3 Bolaños, 2000
冘 ln兩V
Z mental data to minimize the error and generate a new kinetic
min S ⫽ 共b兲
共 兲兩 (21) parameter vector with the estimated values. The iterative opti-
b⫽1 mization process ends when the specified tolerance has been
achieved.
V ij共b兲共 兲 ⫽ 冘 关OBS共i, u兲 ⫺ F共i; u; 兲兴关OBS共 j, u兲 ⫺ F共 j, u; 兲兴
ub Results and Discussion
(22) Examples of experimental data and model calculations made
with the estimated kinetic parameters are shown in Figures
where OBS represents the experimental values, F the model 2– 4. Bolaños-Reynoso (2000) reported the complete set of
values, and Z the number of experimental values times the experimental data. Experimental results confirmed that using a
optimization parameters. natural cooling profile generated a supersaturated sugar solu-
The model solution values were compared with the experi- tion faster than other cooling profiles. The results of run 10
show that supersaturation reached a maximum at 50 min and 156 m. At the end of this run supersaturation was still
decreased to a value close to zero at 180 min. At the end of this increasing and had a value of 0.2863. For complete experi-
run the mass of crystals was 626 g, and the average crystal size ments with cubic cooling profile, the operation time must be
was 507 m with a standard deviation of 188 m. For run 8 greater than 180 min.
(linear cooling profile), supersaturation reached a maximum at On the other hand, evaluation of the kinetic parameters
110 min. This value was smaller than the maximum obtained showed that the nucleation rate constant Kb highly depends on
with the natural cooling profile. The mass of crystals at 180 cooling profiles and to a lower degree on agitation profiles. The
min was 560 g and the average crystal size was 571 m with largest value of Kb was obtained for run 6 using the natural
a standard deviation of 201 m. At the end of the run super- cooling profile and constant agitation at 600 rpm, and the
saturation had a value of 0.027. Runs made using cubic cooling lowest value was for run 3 with the cubic cooling profile and
profiles did not reach the expected final values after 180 min negative step agitation profile. The nucleation exponent b had
because supersaturation was kept at a very low value. For run values between 0.001 and 0.035. This parameter did not
11, the mass of crystal formed in 180 min was 43 g and the present a clear dependency on either temperature or agitation
average crystal size was 382 m with a standard deviation of rate. The crystal total mass exponent j presented lower values
when natural cooling profiles were used because more crystals The nucleation rate is highly favored by natural cooling profiles
were formed with this cooling profile. This effect may indicate and linear, cubic, and constant agitation profiles.
a low value of primary heterogeneous nucleation. The effects The growth rate constant Kg presented different behaviors
of parameter p, identified as the exponent of the agitation for each cooling profile. For a natural cooling profile, Kg
speed, was almost constant in all runs. The term Np could be decreased with agitation rate; for a linear cooling profile Kg
combined with the Kb in the analysis of nucleation. Figure 5 increased with agitation speed; and for a cubic cooling profile
shows nucleation rates as a function of cooling and agitation Kg had a maximum for a negative exponential agitation profile.
profiles. It is clear that the Kb parameter has the greatest The supersaturation exponent for growth g is larger for natural
influence on nucleation rates and depends on the cooling pro- cooling and presents interactions with the agitation speed.
file. The analysis of different agitation profiles on nucleation There is no clear pattern among agitation profiles and param-
rate showed that low values of agitation produced low values of eter g. The average value for g was 1.3. This value is smaller
nucleation at any cooling profile and high values of agitation than that reported by Sá et al. (1996) because the model they
increased the nucleation rate but following different patterns. used did not consider the effect of the mass of crystals formed
Figure 6. Grow rate as a function of cooling profiles: (a) natural, (b) linear, (c) cubic, and an agitation profile: 䉫, step;
▫, negative exponential; ‚, linear; *, cubic; and E, constant rate at 600 rpm.
in their growth rate equation. The agitation rate exponent q has The average error (model/experimental) for all 15 runs in the
the greatest effect on natural cooling runs. Although the q final crystal mass was 7.48%. The experimental error was
values were close at each cooling profile, the value of the term estimated at 7.71%.
Nq is 11.49 and 46.44 for runs 2 and 6, respectively. Figure 6
shows the growth rate as a function of cooling and agitation
profiles. The growth rate exerted a substantial influence on Conclusions
supersaturation; maximum growth rates corresponded to max- Experimental data were used to estimate kinetic parameters
imum values of supersaturation. Agitation produced mixed for the process of crystallization of sugar for different cooling
effects depending of the cooling profile. Growth rates are and agitation profiles. The mathematical model was solved
favored by low agitation with natural cooling profiles and high using the method of lines (discrete model) combined with a
agitation with linear and cubic cooling profiles. traditional fourth-order Runge–Kutta. The estimated kinetic
The estimated parameters for production–reduction sug- parameters showed that the nucleation rate was favored by high
gested interactions among the cooling and agitation profiles. agitation speed and natural cooling profiles. The maximum
Parameters for cubic cooling profiles were greater than those growth rate was reached when supersaturation was at a maxi-
for natural and linear cooling profiles. In all cases the produc- mum. The overall effect of the term production–reduction was
tion rates were greater than the reduction rates (Ka was always in all cases positive, with the largest values found for natural
positive) and the largest values were obtained for natural cool- cooling profiles. The model with the estimated parameters was
ing profiles. The global effect of the production–reduction term suitable to reproduce the experimental data within an experi-
is low compared to that of nucleation and growth terms. Figure mental error of 7.71%. The average asymptotic error in the
7 shows the production–reduction rates for different cooling parameter estimation process was less than 2%.
and agitation profiles. There was no clear pattern of the pro-
duction–reduction term as a function of cooling and agitation
profiles. Notation
B0, G, and ␣ were calculated for times greater than 30 min A1 ⫽ crystallizer’s internal area, cm2
for natural and linear cooling profiles and for times greater than A2 ⫽ crystallizer’s external area, cm2
100 min for cubic cooling profile because crystals were not B0 ⫽ nucleation rate, number of particles/cm3䡠min
C ⫽ solute concentration, g of sugar/g of water
detected by the MasterSizer before those times. Table 3 shows Cp ⫽ heat capacity of solution (magma), J/g䡠°C
the estimated kinetic parameters for all 15 runs. The average F ⫽ flow rate, cm3/min
asymptotic error of all kinetic parameters was less than 2%. G ⫽ size-independent crystal growth rate, cm/min
Ka ⫽ kinetic coefficient for production–reduction, number of particles/ J-37057-U; Consejo del Sistema Nacional de Educación Tecnológica
cm3 magma䡠cm2䡠min䡠(g/cm3)k䡠(rpm)r (CoSNET), projects: 728.98 and 621.01-P; and Universidad Michoacana
Kb ⫽ kinetic coefficient for nucleation, number of particles/cm3䡠min䡠(g/ de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.
cm3) j䡠(rpm)p
Kg ⫽ kinetic coefficient for growth, cm/min䡠(rpm)q
Kv ⫽ crystal shape factor Literature Cited
L ⫽ crystal length, cm
Beckman, J. R., Handbook of Chemical Engineering Calculations,
M ⫽ mass, g
McGraw-Hill, New York (1994).
n ⫽ population density (number), number of particles/cm3 slurry䡠cm
N ⫽ agitation rate, rpm Bolaños-Reynoso, E., “Control y Optimización de las Condiciones de
S ⫽ relative supersaturation Operación de Cristalizadores Batch por Enfriamiento,” PhD Disserta-
t ⫽ time, min tion, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Mexico (2000).
T ⫽ temperature of magma, °C Chen, J. C., Manual del Azúcar de Caña, Limusa, Mexico (1991).
U1 ⫽ heat transfer coefficient (magma– glass–water), J/°C䡠min䡠cm2 Farrel, R., and Y. Tsai, “Modeling, Simulation and Kinetic Parameter
Estimation in Batch Crystallization Processes,” AIChE J., 40(4), 586
U2 ⫽ heat transfer coefficient (water– glass–air), J/°C䡠min䡠cm2
(1994).
V ⫽ magma volume, cm3
Fernández, J., and L. Ballester, “The Heat of Crystallization and Activity
Coefficients of Sucrose in Saturated Water Solutions,” Int. Sugar J., 2,
Greek letters 40 (1974).
Mayrhofer, B., and J. Nyvlt, “Programmed Cooling of Batch Crystalliz-
␣(L) ⫽ production–reduction rate, number of particles/cm3 magma䡠 ers,” Chem. Eng. Proc., 24, 217 (1988).
cm䡠min Mersmann, A., Crystallization Technology Handbook, Marcel Dekker,
⌬Hc ⫽ crystallization enthalpy, J/g New York (1995).
⫽ magma density, g/cm3 Miller, S. M., “Modelling and Quality Control Strategies for Batch Cooling
⫽ estimated parameter vector Crystallizer,” PhD Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin (1993).
Moncada-Abaunza, D., and O. Rodrı́guez-Cervantes, “Análisis de los
Subscripts and superscripts Efectos de Agitación en la Unidad de Muestreo Durante la Determina-
ción de Tamaño de Partı́cula,” BS Thesis, Instituto Tecnológico de
a ⫽ production–reduction order Celaya, Mexico (1999).
b ⫽ nucleation order Perry, R. H., and C. H. Chilton, Biblioteca del Ingeniero Quı́mico,
c ⫽ crystal McGraw-Hill, Mexico City, Mexico (1986).
ex ⫽ exterior Qiu, Y., and A. C. Rasmuson, “Estimation of Crystallization Kinetics from
g ⫽ growth order Batch Cooling Experiments,” AIChE J., 40(5), 799 (1994).
i ⫽ size I Quintana-Hernández, P., R. Alfaro-Medina, E. Bolaños-Reynoso, and L.
in ⫽ into the jacket Salcedo-Estrada, “Efectos de Agitación en el Proceso de Cristalización,”
j ⫽ mass order at nucleation Avances Ing. Quı́m., 8(3), 73 (2000).
k ⫽ mass order at production–reduction Quintana-Hernández, P., E. Bolaños-Reynoso, L. Salcedo-Estrada, and D.
p ⫽ agitation order at nucleation Moncada-Abaunza. “Determinación de Propiedades para Soluciones
q ⫽ agitation order at growth Saturadas de Azúcar,” Avances Ing. Quı́m., 9(1), 43 (2001).
r ⫽ agitation order at production–reduction Randolph, A. D., and M. A. Larson, Theory of Particulate Processes,
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Acknowledgments lization, Tolouse, France (1996).
The authors acknowledge the financial support of Consejo Nacional de Salcedo-Estrada, L., “Control de Cristalizadores Tipo Batch,” PhD Diss.,
Ciencia y Tecnologı́a (SEP–CONACyT), projects: 28142-U and Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Mexico (2000).