In this study, an innovative sieve plate design is proposed to enhance and control the nucleation process. The 3D-printed sieve plates are being fabricated with varying perforation patterns and surface characteristics to evaluate their influence on heterogeneous nucleation. Saturated sodium chloride (NaCl) solution is used as a model system due to its well-characterized crystallization behavior and suitability for early-stage testing. Experiments are being conducted under controlled thermal and flow conditions.
We anticipate that crystal growth will initiate primarily at the boundary between the sieve plate surface and the surrounding solution and expand upward along the submerged plate area. These results are expected to align with classical nucleation theory, which suggests that surface energy and micro-environmental stability at solid–liquid interfaces play a key role in nucleation events. We expect to observe that geometric features and local hydrodynamics significantly influence crystal formation behavior.
This study aims to inform the future development of optimized crystallization surfaces tailored for lithium carbonate and other mineral recovery applications in ZLD systems, offering insights into how engineered surfaces can improve system performance without additional energy input or chemical modification.