A heat pump in a countercurrent crystallization process

This work presents a study of the possibility to reduce the consumption of energy in countercurrent crystallization process, which is usually used to separate organic compounds from their mixture, by introducing a heat pump with external medium (refrigeration cycle) to the process. Focus is made on a refrigeration cycle in which ammonia is used as refrigerant. Calculation for the proposed heat pump is performed. A dimensionless energy saving factor is introduced. The saving factor assumes the value of zero for conventional system. An economic analysis is made and a noticeable save in energy ranging from 34% to 45% was obtained. The effect of the feed temperature and concentration on obtained saving energy factor were investigated.