Agglomeration control is important for both the crystallization
process and product quality optimization. Fast and precise description
of the agglomerate is crucial for agglomeration control. This work
proposed a synthetic image analysis method to accurately count primary
particles within agglomerates by recognizing and clustering the salient
features. In addition, a new definition of the agglomeration degree
distribution was introduced to underscore the proportion of heavy
agglomerates within the particle population. Further, the image analysis
method and agglomeration degree distribution were tested in raspberry
ketone-1-propanol-water system, which is a typical antisolvent oiling-out
system accompanied by liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS)
and agglomeration. A seeding strategy was built up by investigating
the effects of seeding conditions, including seed size and addition
time, on agglomeration. The results demonstrated the effectiveness
of the proposed method, which correctly counts more than 78% of the
particles even for heavy agglomerates. The agglomeration was effectively
inhibited via introducing small seeds after LLPS. The image analysis
method and the concept of agglomeration degree distribution proposed
in this work could be used to provide valuable insights into the agglomeration
behavior and agglomeration control of similar systems.