Increasing Productivity of Ammonium Sulfate Crystallization Plant via Particle Size Distribution Modeling

Abstract

Population balance modeling, which captures the physical phenomena of nucleation and crystal growth, was used to calculate the particle size distribution (PSD) in a set of continuous crystallizers in an ammonium sulfate plant. The FORTRAN code performing this calculation was coupled with an Excel spreadsheet for calculating material balances of the process. Despite simplifications such as assuming a homogeneous mixture in the crystallizer, the model was able to correctly predict the trend of changes in PSD due to variations in operating conditions such as the circulation flow rate around the crystallizer.