Recent Progress in Industrial Crystallization

Crystallization is an important industrial process, a purification technique, a separation process and a branch of particle technology. It also encompasses several key areas of chemical and process engineering. Industrial crystalline products include bulk chemicals, such as sodium chloride and sucrose, fertilizer chemicals such as potassium chloride and urea and, high-price products such as pharmaceuticals, platinum group metal salts, high-grade materials for battery production and organic fine chemicals such as food additives. Industrial crystallization further plays a role in the new and rapidly expanding field of engineered nanoparticles and the production of crystals for the electronics industry and biotechnology. Other prominent industrial application domains comprise the use of crystallization in water and effluent treatment, reflecting the waste-to-resource movement that is becoming increasingly important and relevant in the field.

The overall theme of this Special Issue is how theoretical concepts are adapted in industrial crystallization, and how practical understanding in the field is enhanced through applied research. The latter covers a wide range of subjects, such as crystallization fundamentals, analytical tools for process analysis and monitoring, crystallization process and product design, as well as the integration of crystallization in industrial process chains for, for example, solving environmental and sustainability issues. These topics are also the focus of the 21^st International Symposium on Industrial Crystallization (ISIC 21) held from 31 August to 2 September this year (https://dechema.de/en/ISIC_2021), seen as the most important international conference in the field.

This Special Issue is dedicated to Professor Gerda van Rosmalen (27 May 1936–18 January 2021), who was a pioneer in this field. She developed the field of industrial crystallization research through her original courses developed over many decades and given to industrial partners and postgraduate students. Professor van Rosmalen spent 20 years as the Professor of Industrial Crystallization and Clean Technology at the Laboratory for Process Equipment at TU Delft in the Netherlands, and her distinguished positions include being a Board Member of the Working Party on the Industrial Crystallization of the European Federation of Chemical Engineers. She was regarded globally as a pre-eminent figure in industrial crystallization.

The keywords given below encompass examples addressed in the Special Issue, but papers concerning other innovative and novel subjects in industrial crystallization are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Heike Lorenz
Prof. Dr. Alison Emslie Lewis
Dr. Erik Temmel
Guest Editors

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