Alumina trihydrate crystallization. Part 2. A model of agglomeration

Abstract

Abstract In the second part of this paper on the kinetics of crystallization of aluminum trihydroxide from caustic aluminate solutions, interest is specially focused on the analysis of crystal size distribution as a function of time, in an isothermal batch crystallizer. Breakdown and agglomeration are shown to affect these curves simultaneously. While only qualitative information on breakdown was obtained, agglomeration could be isolated experimentally. Its rate was measured and fitted to a kinetic model which pictures agglomeration as the result of binary collisions between particles.