A computational analysis of a combined cooling anti-solvent continuous crystallization cascade: A paracetamol/methanol/water case study

Presented here are the results of computational investigations into the performance of a two tank continuous crystallization cascade. The system of interest is a combined cooling, anti-solvent crystallization of Paracetamol from methanol and water. The kinetic parameters used in the model were obtained from isolated cooling and anti-solvent batch experiments. The input parameters of interest here are the feed mass flow rate, relative sizes of the two tanks and the distribution of anti-solvent and feed across the tanks. Preliminary findings indicate that the distribution of feed and anti-solvent across the cascade has some impact on the solute recovery but the largest response is seen in the particle size distribution. The maximisation of recovery is generally seen where all feed is directed to the first tank and a portion of the anti-solvent is directed to the first tanks with the remainder directed to the second tank. For each configuration (flow rate and volume) there exists an optimum distribution of streams to maximise recovery and/or to target a particular particle size.