Effects of Temperature and Cooling Modes on Yield, Purity and Particle Size Distribution of Dihydroxystearic Acid Crystals

Abstract An investigation into the effects of temperature and two different cooling modes (i.e. controlled and natural) on the solvent crystallization of dihydroxystearic acid (DHSA) was carried out. The effects of operating temperature and the time on the crystal size distribution (CSD), purity and yield of crystallized DHSA were studied. The crystal purity and average crystal particle size increased with temperature, but the crystal yield decreased as the temperature increased. The controlled cooling crystallization process initially resulted in better crystal properties compared to natural cooling crystallization. However, towards the end of the crystallization process, only marginal differences in terms of crystal properties were observed. Effects of Temperature and Cooling Modes on Yield, Purity and Particle Size Distribution of Dihydroxystearic Acid Crystals 47