A finite element simulation of crystallization from solution in microgravity

This focus of this thesis is the solution of the thermal and species diffusion equations for a sphere of a certain temperature and concentration embedded in a larger cylinder with a lower temperature and concentration. The problem is a mathematical simulation of a physical problem dealing with protein crystal growth in microgravity. The concentration and temperature distributions can be combined to give the region of supersaturation where nucleation and growth take place. An analytical solution was found for a simplified version of the problem but was in-adequate for the full problem. The finite element method was then employed to solve the complete problem. The development of the equations is given and the temperature and concentration distributions resulting from the computations are presented. It was determined that the finite element solution presented provides the information necessary to find the region of crystallization, and that region is presented at various time steps.