(493d) Scale-Up Investigation Of Particle Production In Emulsions

The large scale production of particles with well-defined properties and a narrow property distribution is of great importance for a multitude of technical applications. The particle precipitation in water-in-oil emulsions constitutes a suitable process for the synthesis of particles also in the nanometer range [1,2]. In such a process well-defined water droplets of the emulsion act as reaction vessel with a limited reaction volume. In order to scale this process for industrial applications one will need stringent control of the droplet size distribution in such an emulsion. The first step of a controlled particle production in emulsions is therefore the control of droplet size and distribution [3]. If the production of particles inside droplets is carried out by a diffusion step through the droplet surface, the concentration profile inside the droplets will also be important for the produced particles and their size distribution as well. We will present a combined theoretical and experimental investigation of an emulsion-based particle production process. We present results of population balance modeling as well as molecular modeling which can give significant contributions to improve the understanding of basic phenomena of the process. The simulation results will be compared to our experimental data to validate and support the modeling approach. The conclusions will show interesting and alternative ways towards suitable and efficient particle production technologies.

[1] B. Niemann, F. Rauscher, D. Adityawarman, A. Voigt and K. Sundmacher: Microemulsion-assisted precipitation of particles: Experimental and model based process analysis, Chem. Eng. Process. 45 (10), 2006, p. 917-935.

[2] D. Adityawarman, A. Voigt, P. Veit and K. Sundmacher: Precipitation of BaSO4 nanoparticles in a non-ionic microemulsion: Identification of suitable control parameters, Chem. Eng. Sci. 60 (12), 2005, p. 3373-3381.

[3] M . Fricke, A. Voigt and K. Sundmacher: Droplet size distribution of technical macroemulsions: Variation of process parameters, PARTEC 2007 Conference Proceedings, Nuremberg, 2007.