Affiliation: | aRhodia Recherches, CRL, 85 rue des Frères Perret F-69192 St Fons Cedex, France bLAGEP UMR CNRS 5007, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, ESCPE. Bât. 308G, 43 bld. du 11 Novembre 1918, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France cSANOFI, route d’avignon, F-30390 Aramon, France dSANOFI, 371 rue du Professeur Blayac, F-34000 Montpellier, France |
Abstract: | Growth rate measurements of β-cyclodextrin in water were performed both ways. Firstly, experiments were conducted with single monocrystals located in a supersaturation-controlled flow cell. Diffusional limitations and perturbations due to a competition between surface secondary nucleation and growth at high level of supersaturation have been put in evidence. The evolution of the growth rate with supersaturation has been modelled with a BCF law, assuming a screw dislocation mechanism. Secondly seeded cooling batch trials have been carried on in a well-mixed suspension crystallizer in order to assess the growth rate of the seeds. Refractometry was used as an in situ sensor for measuring the evolution of the concentration of the solute. Measurements of the crystals size distribution of the seeds and of the final crystals are performed off line with laser diffraction technique. A kinetic law with three parameters allows a consistent assessment of the growth of the seeds. The comparison of the two sets of data shows that overall growth rate of the seed is partially limited by diffusion. Nevertheless, the estimation of a surface integration growth kinetic coefficient from batch trials is rather difficult. The theoretical framework of nucleation models developed by Mersmann et al. (Crystallization Technology Handbook, second ed., Marcel Dekker, New York, 2001, pp. 45–80 and 81–144) coupled with the estimated growth kinetics can therefore be used to better monitor the seeding process during batch crystallization operations so as to favor the growth of the seed crystals. |