The Crystallizer is a fluidized bed pellet reactor originally designed for softening purposes of drinking water.
It is used worldwide for the crystallization of a variety of metals carbonates, phosphate, halides, sulfate and sulfide.
The Crystallizer is based on the concept of controlled supersaturation through dilution at a pre-determined pH-range. The reactor is a cylindrical vessel which is partly filled with suitable seed granules (usually sand), operated at atmospheric pressure.
The Crystallizer process has several advantages:
1. It replaces several precipitation and solid-liquid separation stages, leading to significant cost savings in terms of equipment, footprint, process control and manpower.
2. The fluidized bed provides a very large crystallization surface (5,000-10,000 m2/m3), so that the process operates at high rates and with very high crystallization efficiency.
3. The produced pellets contain less than 5% water, making it very compact and easy to handle with.
4. The pellets are of high purity and can be reused in various applications.