Prediction of the Crystal Size Distribution for Reactive Crystallization of Barium Carbonate under Growth and Nucleation Mechanisms

For the complex reactive crystallization system of barium carbonate in industrial processes, the crystal size distribution (CSD) is an important factor for high-quality products and determines the efficiency of many downstream operations. Therefore, CSD prediction based on the mechanism model of the reactive crystallization process of barium carbonate is investigated in this work. The dynamic variation of the whole CSD was reconstructed during the growth and nucleation processes of barium carbonate by solving the population balance equations (PBEs) using combination of the method of characteristics (MOCH) with the quadrature method of moments (QMOM). The parameters of crystal nucleation and size-dependent growth model are identified by capturing real-time laboratory experimental data with process analytical technologies (PATs). Meanwhile, the optimal operating conditions for barium carbonate reactive crystallization processes can be determined, and an optimization approach is used to obtain the target CSD at the end of a batch crystallization process. The computational process is evaluated by experimentations and found that experimental CSDs agree with the simulated values. For complicated reactive crystallization processes with supersaturation controlled, the operating conditions influencing the dynamics of this evolution of CSD can be determined for offline crystallization design and online prediction and control.