Patent ID: 8414843

Claim:
Crystallizer for crystallizing solute contained in a solution to be treated, characterized in that it comprises: first ( 2 ) and second ( 1 ) chambers intended to hold said solution to be treated; means ( 20 ) for keeping at least one portion of this solution in a state of supersaturation in order to form crystalline particles of the solute therein; means for circulating said solution from the first chamber to the second chamber in order to keep said crystalline particles in suspension; means ( 11 , 13 ) for isolating, within the second chamber, in at least one calm zone ( 15 ) communicating with said second chamber, a portion of the solution intended to be present in this second chamber; a first circuit ( 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 23 , 26 , 25 ) for selectively extracting, from said calm zone, a first stream of liquid comprising smaller crystalline solute particles and for recycling this first stream into the first chamber; and a second circuit ( 24 , 25 ) for selectively extracting, from the second chamber, a second stream of liquid comprising larger crystalline solute particles and for bringing this second stream into the first chamber, the downstream end ( 26 ) of the first circuit running into the second circuit so that the first and second liquid streams are made to flow in the same direction in said second circuit.