Indonesian Journal of Chemistry
Vol 23, No 3 (2023)

Investigation of Crystal Size Distribution in Purification of Terephthalic Acid from Polyester Textile Industry Waste by Reactive Crystallization

Bekti Marlena (Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Grafika 2, Yogyakarta 55284, Indonesia
Center for Standardization and Industrial Pollution Prevention Services, Jl. Kimangunsarkoro No. 6, Semarang 5013, Indonesia)

Hary Sulistyo (Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Grafika 2, Yogyakarta 55284, Indonesia)
Rochmadi Rochmadi (Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Grafika 2, Yogyakarta 55284, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 May 2023

Abstract

The purification of terephthalic acid recovered from an alkali-reduction wastewater by reactive crystallization was investigated. The crude terephthalic acid was reacted with sodium hydroxide solution to form a salt of disodium terephthalate, then acidified with sulfuric acid to get the terephthalic acid with higher purity. Effects of time, pH, concentration, and flow rate of secondary feed solutions, temperature, and stirring rate on Crystal Size Distribution (CSD) of terephthalic acid precipitate were investigated. The results showed that CSD was influenced by the concentration of reactants and the pH solution. On the other hand, time, temperature, flow rate of secondary solution, and stirring rate had no significant effects on the CSD, which the mean size of crystals ±3 μm. The mean size of crystals at solution pH 5, 4, and 3 were 6.03, 9.42, and 10.34 μm, respectively; meanwhile, at concentrations of 0.5, 0.3, and 0.1 M, were 7.57, 3.24, and 3.09 μm, respectively. The semi-batch reactive crystallization with double-feeding at constant pH and temperature produced monodispersed crystals. However, this method needs to be carried out more than once for terephthalic acid purification, which is intended for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymerization.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

ijc

Publisher

Subject

Chemical Engineering, Chemistry & Bioengineering Chemistry

Description

Indonesian Journal of Chemistry is an International, peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes original research articles, review articles, as well as short communication in all areas of chemistry including applied chemistry. The journal is accredited by The Ministry of Research, Technology ...