Induction time studies of calcium carbonate in ethylene glycol and water

Induction time for precipitation of calcium carbonate precipitated in mono ethylene glycol and water has been studied by conductivity measurements at ethylene glycol concentrations of 0-90 wt% and temperatures from 25 to 80 degrees C. The supersaturation ratios, S, were in the range of 3-10. The effect of the solvent was separated from the effect of the supersaturation and temperature. Increasing the concentration of ethylene glycol prolongs the induction times for precipitation of CaCO3 considerably although the supersaturation actually increases, especially at lower temperatures. It was shown that this effect cannot be explained by the change in the interfacial tension. Induction time studies in seeded and unseeded experiments were performed in order to separate changes in the nucleation rate from the impact of the growth time in the varying solvent compositions. The results show that crystal growth is retarded, causing the increased induction time in ethylene glycol containing solutions, and hence that the nucleation rate is actually promoted by ethylene glycol. The nucleation rates determined by measured particle numbers and induction times from unseeded experiments were underestimated for the same reason, thereby illustrating the complexity of nucleation rate investigations in mixed solvents. (C) 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.