Systematic Design and Optimization of Fines Removal in Mixed-Product Mixed-Suspension Crystallizer

Fines removal in mixed-product mixed suspension crystallizer (MSMPR) via controlled growth and dissolution is systematically studied in this work. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization, with the fitness functions defined as (1) the ratio of fines particle to the total number of particles (or the "fine index"), (2) the particle mean size, and (3) yield. The decision variables are the temperature set-points of each MSMPR stage, in which the optimization is carried out under different operating constraints, including seeded vs. unseeded operations, size-dependent vs. size-independent crystallization systems, different number of stages and different residence times. The results demonstrate that there exist clear trade-offs between the different objectives and that the various operating constraints significantly dictate if the obtained Pareto solutions are suitable for experimental implementations.