Recovery of valuable, heat sensitive products and concentrates by Eutectic Freeze Crystallization.

Eutectic freeze crystallization (EFC) is a newly developed crystallization technique that operates at subzero temperatures. The eutectic point of an aqueous solution is the concentration and temperature where both the solvent(ice) and the solute(e.g. salt/sugar) starts to crystalize simultaneously. Due to the density difference between the solvent and solute, separation by gravity is possible. A pure stream of ice and solute can then be extracted, the remaining liquid can be separated further or recycled again into the process. In comparison with other separation technologies like evaporation, EFC has a low energy requirement and has the ability of complete conversion of feed in to water and solidified solutes. This research focusses on the recovery of heat sensitive products and concentrates in the agro and food industry by eutectic freeze crystallization.