Sucrose Crystallization in Vibrated Bed Process, Unusual Crystallizer Configuration
Through yield and Sauter mean diameter, the sucrose crystallization was studied in vibrated bed equipment, in which, supersaturation degree, dimensionless vibration number and crystallization time were independent variables. A central composite design with seventeen trials was performed in order to ascertain the influence of each variable in both responses, the crystallization temperature and the amount of seeds were kept constant. The crystallization vibration system differs from the usual configuration, consisting of two perforated discs made of stainless steel, one loop and three aluminum rings. By canonical analysis, it was obtained the operating condition which maximizes the yield and average crystal size. Surface responses were also obtained according to the relevance of each variable, in which were evidenced the high supersaturation and vibration influence for both factors, the high quadratic term of all variables on the crystal yield, and also highlights the great interaction between supersaturation and the dimensionless vibration number.