Aluminum nitride (AlN) nanopowders are synthesized in a chemical vapor synthesis (CVS) process using triethylaluminum (TEAL) and ammonia as precursors. A simple reaction-coagulation-sintering model is used to investigate the influence of process parameters, such as hot-wall reactor temperature and system pressure, on particle characteristics: size and agglomeration for example. The results of these simulations show good agreement with the experimental data and enable a better understanding of these effects of temperature and pressure on particle size and microstructure. Pure wurtzite phase AIN nanocrystals are obtained for all tested process parameters. The primary particle (crystallite) size ranges from 2.7 nm to 11.5 nm with (secondary) particle size in the range of 4.3 nm to 12.4 nm. As predicted by the simulations, the experiments show a low degree of (hard) agglomeration that even reaches the value of 1 for syntheses above 1400 degrees C and 100 mbar, implying the complete absence of hard agglomerates at those conditions. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.