Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, 2017.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhu, Zhilong, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other Authors: Richard D. Braatz.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114315
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author Zhu, Zhilong, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author2 Richard D. Braatz.
author_facet Richard D. Braatz.
Zhu, Zhilong, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author_sort Zhu, Zhilong, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
collection MIT
description Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, 2017.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1143152019-04-10T11:02:48Z Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization Zhu, Zhilong, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Richard D. Braatz. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering. Chemical Engineering. Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, 2017. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-155). Phosphoric acid is the primary ingredient for almost all the phosphorous based fertilizer used in agriculture around the world. During the production of phosphoric acid, phosphate rock is reacted with sulfuric acid producing gypsum as the byproduct that is separated from the phosphoric acid by filtration. The efficiency of filtration depends strongly on the crystal size distribution (CSD) and shape. Undesired gypsum CSD and shape not only prolong the filtration and bottleneck the plant's overall production, but also decrease the phosphate recovery from the wet cake. To optimize the process, a first-principle process model is developed for the reactor-crystallizer to predict CSD and shape, and subsequently the filtration rate. This thesis presents a multidimensional population balance model (PBM) framework that models CSD with two independent characteristic lengths or 2D PBM. Compare with the 1D PBM, the extra characteristic length in the 2D PBM provides enough degrees of freedom to model needle-, plate-, and rod-like crystals that exhibits varying aspect ratio. The applicability of the 2D PBM for continuous crystallization is made possible by introducing growth rate dispersion mechanism that accounts for the broadening of the size distribution from the measured 2D CSD. Computationally efficient and highly resolved numerical methods are developed for solving both dynamic and steady-state 2D PBM that consists of integro-partial differential equation. Maximum likelihood estimation method is used for the first time to estimate crystal kinetics from the measured 2D CSD and shows much more accurate estimation than the established moment approach. The supersaturation in the multicomponents aqueous solution is defined based on chemical potential and is modeled by a speciation based mixed-solvent-electrolyte thermodynamic model. The effect of metal ion impurity on crystal growth rate and nucleation rate is modeled based on the crystal kinetics determined for the crystallizing system without impurity. All individual model components developed are validated and integrated to predict the effect of temperature, residence time, acid composition, and metal ion impurity concentration on the CSD and shape. The predicted CSD and shape are used as input for the filtration model that quantifies cake filterability. Finally, steady-state process optimization is formulated for maximum phosphoric acid production rate. by Zhilong Zhu. Ph. D. 2018-03-27T14:17:09Z 2018-03-27T14:17:09Z 2017 2017 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114315 1028736523 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 155 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Chemical Engineering.
Zhu, Zhilong, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
title Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
title_full Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
title_fullStr Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
title_full_unstemmed Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
title_short Multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
title_sort multidimensional population balance modeling and optimization of continuous reactive crystallization
topic Chemical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114315
work_keys_str_mv AT zhuzhilongphdmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology multidimensionalpopulationbalancemodelingandoptimizationofcontinuousreactivecrystallization