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Laboratory of Plant and Process Design Emil-Figge-Str. 70 Geschossbau 2 44227 Dortmund Germany
Room G2-R3.20
Gymnasium Essen Überruhr,Essen (Germany)
Diploma thesis: Investigation of induced nucleation processes during crystallization of paracetamol
Field of research: Combined examination of crystallization, filtration and drying for an improved product design
Crystallization is widely used as a separation or purification step in chemical industries and a high effort for optimization and process control is made to achieve the desired quality characteristics of the crystalline products. The quality of crystalline products is defined by the crystal form and size as well as by the crystal size distribution (CSD) and purity. To characterize the CSD responses, like median crystal size, width of CSD, or the coefficient of variation, are used in general. However, no information about the particle morphology or the amount of agglomerates is given by these responses respectively. The lack of information about the particle morphology in CSD can lead to misunderstand the crystallization process, especially if agglomeration takes place during solid-liquid separation or drying and an off-line CSD measurement technique is used. Through agglomeration the width of CSD might be broadened and mother liquor inclusions lead to less purity. To avoid a misconception of crystallization processes and due to an increasing purity demand in industry, the detection and localization of agglomeration plays an important role.
The aim of the study is to increase the understanding of product quality influencing processes, like agglomeration, to allow a synergistic process optimization of crystallization, solid-liquid separation, and drying to get the final product. Therefore, the wash liquid selection, cake washing and different drying methods are investigated systematically to identify main influence factors for the development of heuristics and a methodology for detection and localization of agglomerates is established.
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