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PULP&PAPERMAGAZINE:Less
EnvironmentalImpact/SteamUseCharacterize
VacuumChillerOperation
ByHENRYHAGE
BARCELONA,March1,2004(Viewpoint)Vacuumchillersarewidelyconsideredtobethesimplest
andmostreliablerefrigerationoptionforanyprocessthatrequirestheloweringofgasorliquid
temperatures.However,likeanyprocessequipment,thesechillersshouldbeincludedinamill's
maintenanceprogramtopreventthepossibilityofcoolingfailurewherelossofchilledwatermightleadto
completeshutdown.
Nearly450vacuumchillershavebeeninstalledatmills
worldwide.

Therearethreetypesofchillingsystemsavailablefortheloweringofgasorliquidtemperatures:
mechanicalcompressionsystems,absorptionsystems,andvacuumchillers.Vacuumchillersare
universallyconsideredtobethesimplestandsafestdesign.Theyarealsoconsideredtobethemost
reliable.Vacuumchillersfeaturelowinstallationandoperatingcosts,especiallywhenlowpressuresteam
andadequatecondensingwaterareavailable.Theyoperatewithlownoiseandvirtuallynovibration,
primarilybecausetheyhavenomovingparts.
Vacuumchillershavebeeninstalledinnearly450millsthroughouttheworld.Sincenochemical
refrigerantsorabsorptionsolutionsarerequired,thetechnologyisenvironmentallyfriendly.Operating
withouthazardousorcorrosivechemicals,vacuumchillerscanbefabricatedinstandardmaterialsof
construction,guaranteeinglowinitialcostwhileprovidingalongservicelife.
Withappropriatemaintenance,millcoolingplantsutilizingvacuumchillingtechnologycanprovide
importantsavings.Thebottomlineismaximumefficiencyandmoreproductiveprocesses.
HOWANEJECTORCREATESVACUUM.Vacuumchillersutilizesteamjetejectorstocreatethe
necessaryvacuumforthechillingprocess.Inasteamjetejector,apressurizedmotivatingfluidtypically
steamentersandexpandsthroughaconvergingdivergingnozzle.Itspressureenergyisconvertedto
velocityenergyinordertoentrainasuctionfluid,whichwhenpulledin,createsthedesiredvacuum.

Thesuctionfluidsubsequentlymixeswiththemotivatingfluidinthemixingchamber.Themixedfluids
arethenrecompressedasvelocityenergyisconvertedbacktopressureenergywhentheypassthroughthe
diffuser.
PRINCIPLESOFVACUUMCHILLING.Vacuumchillingoccurswhenfeedwatercomesintocontact
withlowabsolutepressureor"vacuum"andinstantlyboilstoreachequilibrium.Heatisremovedor
"flashed"fromthewaterasitchills.
Theprocessflowofatypicalvacuumchillerisasfollows:Watertobechilledentersachilltankandis
distributedevenlyoveraweir.Whenwatercomesincontactwithvacuuminthechilltank,thewater
vaporexpandsanditsheatenergyisreleased,loweringthewatertemperature.Thecooledwateris
circulatedasrequiredbytheprocessandthenreturnedtothechilltankwherefreshmakeupis
continuouslyadded.
Multistagevacuumchillersofferincreasedefficiency,therebyreducingsteamandvacuumrequirements.
Amultistagesystemdividesthechilltankintotwoormorestackedcompartments,eachwithitsownjet
ejectortocreateasequentiallyhighervacuum.
Smallcoolingloadsandtemperaturerangescanbeeffectivelyhandledinsinglestagecenterdistribution
chilltanks.Theseinexpensiveunitsareadequateforlessdemandingduties,butrequirerelativelymore
steamandcoolingwater.
EXTRABENEFITSFROMAUTOMATICDEAERATION.Oneuniqueadvantageofvacuum
chillingisautomaticdeaeration.Dissolvedair,presentinnaturalwater,isremovedintheflashboiling
process.Mostofthewater'scarbondioxidecontentisalsoremoved,whichincreasesitsalkalinityand
minimizescorrosionindownstreampipingandprocessequipment.
FIGURE1.Approximatesteamandcondenserwater
requirementsfortypicalchilledwaterapplications

Thisdeaeratingfeatureisespeciallyusefulinprocesseswheregasesaretobedissolvedintochilledwater.
Gasesaremoresolubleincoldwaterthaninwarmandareevenmoresolublestillincolddeaeratedwater.
Deareationisespeciallyusefulinpulpandpaperprocessesusedtodissolvechlorinedioxide(ClO2)for
paperbleachingandwheresulfurdioxideistobedissolvedinasulfitedigester.
MINIMIZATIONOFSTEAMANDWATERUSE.Lowpressuresteamthatisnormallyventedor
condensedforheatrecoverycanbeutilizedforchillingwater.Althoughpressuresbetween100and200
psigaremostefficient,steamejectorshavebeendesignedtousewastesteamatpressuresaslowas2

psig.Ejectorairpumpscanoperatewithsteampressuresaslowas25psig.Systemsusing30to50psig
steamarequitecommon.
Vacuumchillersshouldbedesignedutilizingafigurethatrepresentsmaximumcondenserwater
temperature,i.e.,summertemperature.However,sincethetemperatureofcoolingwaterusuallyvaries
seasonally,actualaverageconsumptionisgenerallymuchlessthanthequotedvalue.
Steamsavingsarepossiblewiththeinstallationofautomaticpressurecontrols.Ascondensingwater
temperaturedrops,ejectorsteamrequirementscanbelowered.Asavingsofabout10%ofmaximum
boostersteamflowmayberealizedforeach5Freductionincondensingwatertemperaturebelowdesign
point.
Tominimizemotivesteamrequirementsforejectorsandcondenserwaterusage,condenserstagingis
oftendesignedintothesystem.Thistypicallyrequiresaspecialtwostagevacuumairpump.Here,two
condenserstagesarestackedverticallyinasingleshellwithwaterflowingfromthetopsectiontothe
bottombygravity,usingintricateloopsealsbetweenthestages.
FIGURE2.Typicallargescalesteamjetrefrigerationplant

Figure1showsapproximatesteamandcondenserwaterrequirementsfortypicalchilledwater
applications.Temperaturerisecanvary,dependingontherelativecostsofsteamandwater.Thechart
assumesthatwatertobecooledandcondenserwaterenteratthesametemperature.
EASYMAINTENANCE,STANDARDMATERIALS.Simplicityandreliabilitytranslateto
maintenancesavings.Withnomovingparts,littlevibration,andnohazardouschemicalsinvolved,mill
personnelcanquicklyandeasilymaintainvacuumchillers.Instrumentationandcontrolsaresimilarto
thoseusedthroughoutmostmills:levelcontrols,loadcontrols,andpressurecontrols.Spareparts
requirementsarealsominimal.Inmostcases,asparenozzleanddiffuserforeachejectorairpumpstage
areadequate.
Typically,vacuumchillersarefabricatedfromsteelwithstainlesssteelejectornozzles.Forapplications
requiringspecialpurposematerials,stainlesssteel,rubberlinedsteel,fiberglassreinforcedpolyester,and
speciallycoated/linedconstructionareavailable.
Figure2showsatypicalvacuumchiller.Vacuumejectorscompressflashsteamandalldissolvednon
condensablesanddischargethemtoamaincondenser,usingpositivepressuremotivesteamtoevaporate
aquantityofwaterundervacuum.Thefirststageejectorcoolswaterflowtoanintermittenttemperature.
Then,thesecondstagetakesovercoolinguntilthefinaltemperatureisreached.
Bothejectorsdischargeintoacondenser,wherethemotivesteamplusevaporatedwatervaporis
condensed.Theejectorstypicallyoperateatvacuumlevelsbetween6torr(8mbar)and15torr(20mbar).
Tomaintaintherequiredvacuum,theejectors'discharge(intothecondenser,asFigure2shows)mustalso
beatavacuum.Atwostagesteamjetvacuumset(oftencalledanairpump)iscommonlyusedtohold
thevacuumatthedischarge.
CASEHISTORY:WEYERHAEUSER,FLINTRIVER.AtWeyerhaeuser'sFlintRiverpulpandpaper
millinOglethorpe,Ga.,anejectorchangeoutonavacuumchillerachieveda50%steamsavings.For25
years,FlintRiverhasproduceditsownClO2bleach,employingavaporflashingrefrigerationprocessas
partofthebleachproductioncycle.
TherefrigerationissuppliedbyaCrollReynoldsChillVactorsteamjetvacuumchiller.Installedin1978,
itisanejectordrivensystemwithnomajormechanicallyoperatedparts,resultinginminimal
maintenanceandlowoperatingcost.
Fournewejectors.InSeptember2002,FlintRiverreplacedthechiller'sfouroriginalsteamjetejectors
withfournewunitsofthesamesize.ThesewerealsosuppliedbyCrollReynolds.
Theupgraderesultedinimportantsavingsinoperatingefficiencyanda50%reductioninsteamuse.It
alsoinspiredthemill'soperatingmanagementtorefurbishtheentireunit,puttingitintoprimecondition
forfurtheryearsofreliableservice.
Conditionsofservice.TheFlintRivermill'svacuumchillerisinstalledinthechemicalgeneratorareaof
themillwhereitsuppliescold,deaeratedwatertoabsorbgasinanabsorptiontowerforClO2production.
Thefacilityisincontinuousoperation.
Theplantnowmeetschilledwaterrequirementswithfarlesssteamusage.Bymatchingchilleroutputto
thecapacitydemandsoftheClO2plant,just12,000pphisneededfortheprocess,comparedwiththe
originalsteamuseof25,000pph.
Theseimprovementswereachievedwithouttheneedforamajoroverhaulbecausethenewejectorsare
thesamesizeastheoriginals,yetemployamuchsmallerinternalconfiguration.
Systemoptimization.Withtheejectorsinplace,theoptimizationoftheentirechilledwatersystemis
continuing.Whenthefirstchangesweremade,certainlongtermmaintenanceissueswereuncovered.
Preventivemaintenanceprogramsarecurrentlybeingimplemented.

Asanexample,whenpreparingtoinstalltheejectors,plantpersonnelfoundthatthesmall,lowpressure
Zstagesteamejectorusedtoremovecondensablegasesfromtheunit'sbarometriccondenserwasno
longerrunningatthecorrectcapacity.Itwasreplaced,andthedecisionwasmadetoreplacetwoYstage
ejectorsonthesameunit.Thesechangesareexpectedtooptimizeoverallcontrolarrangementsforthe
chiller.
HenryHageisvicepresident,CrollReynoldsCompanyInc.,Westfield,N.J.

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