Modelling particle dissolution in stirred vessels

Abstract

Particle dissolution in stirred vessels is a unit operation commonly encountered in several production sectors, such as the mineral, pharma and chemical industries. It is commonly conducted batch-wise under time-dependent conditions, a circumstance that complicates model set-up. This paper presents a set of models for simulating batch dissolution of polydisperse particles in stirred vessels. These models cover all scenarios of particle batch dissolution, regardless of whether the initial particle quantity exceeds or falls short of achieving solution saturation. Consequently, they address cases where particles are either completely dissolved or remain partially undissolved. The models also account for both single-sized and multi-sized particles. Convenient model simplifications are also provided for the cases of final solute concentration much smaller than saturation (low final concentration models). All models are successfully experimentally validated. The single-size large final concentration model is employed to set up experimental runs that, apart from their use in predictive simulations, may be employed for simultaneously measuring mass transfer coefficient and interfacial solute concentration using suitable experimental runs. The ability to measure interfacial solute concentration is also exploited for assessing whether it coincides, or not, with the solute saturation concentration, a common assumption when dealing with solid-liquid mass transfer, which in the present case is found to hold true. The simpler single-size low-final-concentration model is very convenient for measuring the mass transfer coefficient alone. Finally, the multi-size model is utilised to evaluate the sensitivity of the estimated mass transfer coefficient in the single-size model to the particle size range employed during experimental measurements of mass transfer coefficients.