Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol.271, No.1-2, 238-244, 2004
Determination of crystallization kinetics in solution
A mathematical model for the calculation of the linear crystal growth rate in solution crystallization was developed, using transient crystal size distribution (CSD) data, the solution concentration curve, and the suspension density of a batch crystallization process without taking in to the secondary processes. Although this method is developed based on a cooling crystallization system, it can be easily extended to other systems e.g., dilution crystallization, precipitation crystallization, etc. An advantage of this method is that crystal shape factors do not affect the linear crystal growth rate. The example of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride crystallization is employed to illustrate this method. The results from this study shows that the model gives more reliable kinetics than alternative methods and the convergence of the model can be easily achieved. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.