A method for solving the population balance equation coupled with multiphase flow field was developed for a steady crystallization process by considering nucleation rate and crystal growth rate. A simulation model with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was established for the industrial crystallization process. In this method

the different sizes of crystals were considered as the different dispersed phases. The relationship between mass balance and population balance was built by discretizing the population equation into different size groups with the finite volume method. By using this model in commercial software of ANSYS CFD

the crystallization process of potassium chloride in the draft tube baffle (DTB) crystallizer was simulated

then the flow fields and the volume fraction distributions of different dispersed phases were obtained. The simulation results were compared with experimental result. It was demonstrated that the modeling in this work can reasonably predict the flow fields and the volume fraction distributions of different dispersed phases in the industrial crystallization process.