Industrial crystallization is a field touching a multitude of
branches. It is as important for the food industry as it is for the chemical or, e. g.,
pharmaceutical industry. Wherever it is important to obtain a pure crystalline product
from solutions or melts, with the "right" shape, size (size distribution) and in
the right polymorph, the problems encountered are those discussed at the international
symposia on industrial crystallization held in previous years, being repeated at three-year
intervals and taking place again this autumn.
One problem to which considerable attention will be devoted at this year's meeting
in Dresden is the question, crucial to the pharmaceutical industry, whether or not
it will be possible to predict the solubility and/or the right polymorph of a crystalline
drug in a solvent. If just one of these parameters could be predicted, essential
decisions regarding the process for producing the crystalline drugs would become
possible at a time when no sufficient number of agents is yet available for comprehensive
investigations of solubility in the laboratory. The times needed for developing
new crystalline drugs could be reduced.
Another focus of this symposium, one that has gained impact over recent years, will
be the production and control of crystalline or amorphous nano-particles precipitated
from liquid media. When producing such particles, it is vital that they be generated
in accordance with the specifications in terms of size, shape, porosity or, e. g.,
surface characteristics, as required by their intended applications. Creating nano-particles
by an industrial-scale crystallization process requires nuclei that are generated
within a short time and in a reproducible and controlled manner. Only then can the
optical, electrical and mechanical characteristics which make nano-particles so
interesting be actually put to use. In order to comply with these requirements,
technologies make use of special mixing nozzles blending the starting materials
for nano-particles as fast and as uniformly as possible. New analytical methods
allow detailed insights into the process of generation of these particles and open
up perspectives for new products.
More than 300 participants from all parts of the world are expected at the congress
in Dresden. It is a hallmark of this congress that it is not only of interest to
the scientists from universities and research centres, but also to many researchers
and developers in industry. This makes the congress a forum for the exchange and
evaluation of new ideas and results. The requirements of industry are formulated
here. For the first time, the 2005 congress will also offer workshops particularly
furthering this exchange.
The organizer of this congress, the VDI Society for Chemical and Process Engineering,
has selected Dresden as the venue for its attractiveness to tourists and its excellent
congress facilities. The organiser is certain that selecting this venue for the
most important symposium on industrial crystallization world-wide will offer unbroken
continuity in the line of previous venues such as Cambridge in the United Kingdom
or Sorrento in the Naples Bay.
We are looking forward to meeting you in Dresden.
Joachim Ulrich
Chairman of the Scientific Committee
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