Inhibitive effect of calcium on the primary nucleation of sodium carbonate in the evaporation process of the caustic liquor

Abstract

The primary nucleation of sodium carbonate in caustic liquor was monitored using a focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM) during evaporation in a batch evaporator. The results obtained by the FBRM system showed that there were two abrupt increases, and the crystals obtained from the two increases exhibited different morphologies. The content of calcium in the first abrupt crystal was much higher than that in the stock solution. Calcium ions were found to have an inhibitive effect on sodium carbonate nucleation.