The crystal growth and nucleation kinetics of penicillin sulfoxide in butyl acetate were studied with Mydlarz & Jones model

which fits the experimental values best. After the model was treated by moment transformation

the crystal growth and nucleation rates were calculated from the crystal size distribution. The parameters in crystallization kinetic functions were obtained with the least square method. The effects of supersaturation ratio

temperature and agitator speed were examined. In conclusion

the crystal growth of penicillin sulfoxide is controlled by surface growth because the growth rate increases greatly with the increase of supersaturation ratio. High agitator speed results in the breakage of penicillin sulfoxide crystals and improves the secondary nucleation. As a result

crystal growth rate decreases and nucleation rate increases with the increase of agitator speed. The study on crystal growth and nucleation kinetics will be beneficial to the industrial production of penicillin sulfoxide.