An Investigation of the Applicability of Micro-Calorimetry for the Measurement of Supersaturation During Batch Crystallization

A new application of reaction micro-calorimetry for early stage crystallization development is described. Using a multi- channel Insight RT-10 reaction calorimeter, critical  crystallization information such as detection of primary nucleation can be obtained with minute material quantities (<2 g) . The micro-calorimetry approach was successfully applied to determine the variation of the transient concentration and supersaturation for both cooling and anti-solvent crystallizations. These data can provide information about crystal growth rate at an early stage of the development which permits tailoring robust crystallization processes. Additionally, the ability to analyze up to 8 crystallization processes in parallel, the ease of instrument set-up and sample preparation and the no calibration requirement make micro-calorimetry an ideal tool for crystallization development for early stage projects.