EVAPORATOR

An evaporator is used in an air-conditioning system to allow a compressed cooling chemical, such as R-22 (a.k.a Freon) or R-410A, to evaporate from liquid to gas while absorbing heat in the process.[1] It can also be used to remove water or other liquids from mixtures. The process of evaporation is widely used to concentrate foods and chemicals as well as salvage solvents. In the concentration process, the goal of evaporation is to vaporize most of the water from a solution which contains the desired product. In the case of desalination of sea water or in Zero Liquid Discharge plants, the reverse purpose applies; evaporation removes the desirable drinking water from the undesired product, salt. One of the most important applications of evaporation is in the food and beverage industry. Foods or beverages that need to last for a considerable amount of time or need to have certain consistency, like coffee, go through an evaporation step during processing. In the pharmaceutical industry, the evaporation process is used to eliminate excess moisture, providing an easily handled product and improving product stability. Preservation of long-term activity or stabilization of enzymes in laboratories are greatly assisted by the evaporation process. Another example of evaporation is in the recovery of sodium hydroxide in kraft pulping.Cutting down waste-handling cost is another major reason for large companies to use evaporation applications. Legally, all producers of waste must dispose of waste using methods compatible with environmental guidelines; these methods are costly. By removing moisture through vaporization, industry can greatly reduce the amount of waste product that must be processed.

RISING FILM (LONG TUBE VERTICAL) EVAPORATOR

In this type of evaporator, boiling takes place inside the tubes, due to heating made (usually by steam) outside the same. Submergence is therefore not desired; the creation of water vapor bubbles inside the tube creates an ascensional flow enhancing the heat transfer coefficient. This type of evaporator is therefore quite efficient, the disadvantage being to be prone to quick scaling of the internal surface of the tubes. This design is then usually applied to clear, non-salting solutions. Tubes are usually quite long, typically 4+ meters (13+ ft). Sometimes a small recycle is provided. Sizing this type of evaporator is usually a delicate task, since it requires a precise evaluation of the actual level of the process liquor inside the tubes. Recent applications tend to favor the falling-film pattern rather than rising-film.

HORIZONTAL-TUBE
Horizontal tube evaporators use a tube and spray method of heat transfer and differ in this respect from other evaporators.

GENERAL INFORMATION In horizontal-tube evaporators feed is sprayed over horizontal tubes that contain steam. As the feed flows over the tubes, evaporation takes place. The resulting vapor exits out the top of the evaporator, while the remaining liquor falls to the bottom of the evaporator and is either removed or recycled with the incoming feed. EQUIPMENT DESIGN Liquor is circulated through a spray distribution network over the tube's outside surface to ensure sufficient wetting of the heat transfer surface.. The tubes are arranged so as to maximize the heat transfer area between the steam and the liquor. This arrangement also facilitates cleaning because scaling and fouling are easily removed. The picture below is a schematic of a horizontal tube evaporator.

(Copyright Alfa Laval, Richmond, VA)

USAGE EXAMPLES One of the many uses of horizontal tube evaporators is the production of distilled water. Pure water is collected as vapor, while the wastewater is discharged directly from the system.

Horizontal tube evaporators are used frequently in the pulp and paper industry to concentrate solids into a slurry by evaporating off water and other liquids. These evaporators are also used in the pharmaceutical industry to concentrate particular drugs or chemicals for medicinal use. ADVANTAGES Larger liquid-vapor separation area than other evaporators Relatively low cost Very low headroom DISADVANTAGES Unsuitable for salting or scaling liquids Smaller capacity than other evaporators Liquid distribution hard to maintain

OPEN PAN EVAPORATOR

Evaporation is a process for concentrating a solution by vaporizing part or all of the solvent. In most of the cast s the solvent is water. The Pan Evaporator set-up is designed to study the fundamentals of evaporation process. The set-up consists of a jacketed pan evaporator made of stainless steel and an electrically heated steam generator of suitable capacity. To evaporate the solution in pan, steam is allowed to enter in the jacket using a control valve. Condensate is collected from steam trap for energy measurement. Tilting is done by a worm gear arrangement to empty the pan.

LONG VERTICAL TUBE EVAPORATOR

These are two types. (i) Long vertical tube falling film evaporator (ii) Long vertical tube rising film evaporator (i)Long tube vertical (climbing film) rising film evaporator: Construction: This consists of a long tubular heating element incorporating the tubes 25 mm to 50 mm and 3 to 10 meters in length. And also it contain at the top a separator or vapor space for removing entrained liquid from the vapor. Deflector is provided just above the tube sheet. Working: The feed at near boiling is fed to the bottom of the evaporator. It is then pumped inside the tubes. Steam is provided on the shell side. Liquid and vapor are separated in the vapor separator at the top. Deflector acts as a both primary separator and foam breaker. Multiple effects are used to achieve higher steam economy. Applications: Its counter heat exchange design gives the ability to handle foam and forth forming type materials.This consists of a long tubular heating element incorporating the tubes 50 mm to 250 mm and 3 to 10 meters in length. Working: The feed to the evaporator is fed to the top of the evaporator through efficient liquid distributors. Steam is given on the shell side. The concentrate is collected at the bottom. The same operation is repeated in multiple effects to achieve steam economy.The main problem in this type of evaporator is that of distributing the liquid uniformly as a film inside the tubes. This is done by a set of perforated metal plates above a carefully leveled tube sheet.

Applications: Used in desalination industries to separate water and salts in sea water. Optimized models of multi effect system having smooth or double fluted tubes are used to obtain better performance ratio. Submerged vertical tube evaporator developed from the classic falling film evaporators are used to provide fresh water with better thermal efficiency. It is employed in high capacity refrigeration system that uses propane as refrigerant. Used widely in liquid food evaporation.