EFFECT OF OPERATING CONDITIONS ON CRYSTALLIZATION BY COOLING.

A directly cooled crystallizer was countercurrently operated with a saturated brine of magnesium chloride and kerosene dispersed to droplets. The crystals formed and increased in size along the vertical column as the brine cooled down by the rising droplets. The operating conditions in the 0. 09 m in diameter and 3 m high column corresponded to brine volumetric flow rate of 1. 67 multiplied by 10** minus **5 m**3/s, volumetric flow rate ratio of kerosene to brine in the range of 2. 5-5. 5, droplet holdup of 4-47%, droplet size of (2. 7-5. 5) multiplied by 10** minus **3 m at holdups above 12%. At lower holdups, the crystals were smaller and were measured down to 0. 32 multiplied by 10** minus **3 m. The droplet size and the relative temperature change of the brine at the inlet has no apparent effect upon the crystal size. The crystal size in the range of (0. 32-0. 97) multiplied by 10** minus **3 m, correlated with the volumetric heat transfer coefficient which varied from 4kW/m**3K to 6 kWm/m**3K, respectively.