The synthesis of crystallization-based separation processes requires experimental solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) behavior of the system under consideration, effective representation of such SLE data, selection of crystallization solvent, and determination of crystal quality under different experimental conditions. Often, because of the considerable time and labor required for a thorough investigation of a given system, some of these steps are omitted, resulting in a suboptimal process, or worse, completely missing a feasible, superior process alternative. In order to tackle this problem, a parallel solubility measurement system was developed. With the use of multiple turbidity probes and optical devices, online monitoring of the turbidity in multiple crystallization experiments was achi...[ Read more ]

The synthesis of crystallization-based separation processes requires experimental solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) behavior of the system under consideration, effective representation of such SLE data, selection of crystallization solvent, and determination of crystal quality under different experimental conditions. Often, because of the considerable time and labor required for a thorough investigation of a given system, some of these steps are omitted, resulting in a suboptimal process, or worse, completely missing a feasible, superior process alternative. In order to tackle this problem, a parallel solubility measurement system was developed. With the use of multiple turbidity probes and optical devices, online monitoring of the turbidity in multiple crystallization experiments was achieved. Several solid-liquid equilibrium phase diagrams of organic systems including adipic acid in water (binary), paracetamol in various organic solvents (binary), phenol/o-cresol/tert-butanol (ternary), phenol/water (liquid-liquid phase forming), and others were measured. Further application in metastable zone width determination was presented as well. These examples demonstrate that, taken together, this parallel solubility measurement apparatus, is highly effective in solubility data measurement, for identifying liquid-liquid region, solvent selection, and useful for synthesizing crystallization-based separation processes.