Monitoring the Effect of the Dextran Molecular Weight on Sucrose Crystallization by Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM)

Abstract

The influence of the molecular weight of dextran on the crystallization of sucrose (including primary and secondary crystallization) in a pure sucrose solution was investigated via in-line focused beam reflectance monitoring. The most pronounced effect of dextran on sucrose crystallization was found with molecular weights >500,000 at a concentration of 2500 ppm. Molecular weight of 6000 has no profound effect on sucrose crystallization under the same condition. The results demonstrated that high molecular weight dextran delays and reduces the primary crystallization rate of sucrose and enlarges the unweighted chord length distribution zone.