DETERMINATION OF THE METASTABLE ZONE WIDTH OF GLYCINE AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS FOR BATCH CRYSTALLIZATIONS

The aim of this study was to determine the metastable zone width of aqueous solutions of glycine for non-seeded batch crystallizations. The saturation curve was determined by studying the heating rate influence on the apparent saturation temperatures of several solutions. A linear regression was then applied to obtain the saturation temperatures. The spontaneous nucleation curve was obtained by measuring the crystallization temperatures of several solutions at different cooling rates. The results show that the apparent nucleation order of the glycine aqueous solutions was around 3.5 +/- 0.5. Moreover, from the experimental data, a second-order polynomial model was established by using the experimental design method. This model enables the expression of crystallization temperature to be defined as a function of concentration and cooling rate. The results show that the model fits well (R20.99; Q20.98) and that the cooling rate is the most influential parameter.