Effects of ultrasonic radiation on induction period and nucleation kinetics of sodium sulfate

Abstract

The effects of ultrasound on crystal nucleation and particle size distribution of sodium sulfate were investigated via determining the induction period and particle size. Crystal nucleation parameters and equations for primary nucleation were calculated. The experimental results show that the induction time decreases under the ultrasound irradiation, therefore, we can get a shorter induction period at a higher supersaturation level. Based on these observations, the growth mechanism of sodium sulfate is continuous growth because the value of the surface entropy factor f is smaller than 3. The induction period was observed shorter and particle size was smaller when the ultrasonic radiation time increased. Crystal growth improved with the longer crystallization time.