Precipitation of calcium carbonate in the presence of citrate and EDTA

The influence of process conditions such as feed rate, calcium/carbonate ratio, pH, complexing agents [ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), citrate (CIT)] and their concentration on the average particle size and shape of precipitated calcium carbonate was studied. The precipitation was performed in a semi-batch operated agitated vessel at constant pH by adding sodium hydrogen carbonate to a solution containing calcium chloride. In the absence of a complexing agent, agglomerates of needle-shaped crystals, probably aragonite, are obtained. Increasing feed time and the calcium/carbonate ratio increases the average particle size, whereas the opposite effect is observed for increasing pH. The observations can be related to the level of supersaturation. In the presence of complexing agents and at a concentration ratio of calcium vs. a complexing agent of 6, differently shaped and smaller particles were obtained. Furthermore, the effect of the other parameters on particle size becomes much weaker in the presence of complexing agents. In the presence of EDTA mostly spherical particles were obtained, and in the presence of citrate mainly rhombic particles corresponding to calcite were obtained. The effect on particle shape and size is attributed to interactions of the complexing agents with the faces of the crystalline calcium carbonate.