Falling film melt crystallization (II): Model to simulate the dynamic sweating using fractal porous media theory

This paper describes the model development of dynamic sweating in falling film melt crystallization (FFMC) using fractal porous media theory. The crystal layer has the characteristics of a fractal porous medium. An overall mass balance is applied to determine the structural and characteristic parameters of the crystal layer. Two ideal hypothetical models are adopted to describe the dynamic change of flow rate in sweating under sweating conditions. The characteristic factor phi is introduced to modify the model to describe the real process. The model is validated by experiment, and the simulated result agrees well with the experimental result. The model is then exploited to understand sweating behavior and the structure and permeability variations of the crystal layer in FFMC. More significantly, the sweating model is also an important part of the model system of the overall FFMC process. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.