Novel twisted hexagonal tubular crystallizer used for thiourea cooling crystallization: Improving crystal qualities

The stirred-tank crystallizer (STC) is the widely used apparatus in industrial crystallization. However, it presents notable challenges, including a broad crystal size distribution (CSD) and fouling. Herein, the twisted hexagonal tube (THT) was employed for thiourea cooling crystallization. The THT exhibited superior heat transfer performance compared to the circular tube (CT) under identical conditions. Furthermore, the THT exhibited longer induction times and wider metastable zone width compared to STC and CT, indicating that the THT can effectively mitigate the nucleation rate. Crystals formed in the THT exhibited elliptical shapes, with a purity of 99.3 % and a target-product (425 μm) proportion of 78 wt%. Thiourea crystallized using the THT met the first-class in China standard HG/T 3454–2013, whereas those crystallized using STC and CT met the second-class standard. Consequently, the THT, as a novel tubular crystallizer, demonstrated considerable potential.