Evaporation

Introduction
The objective of evaporation is to concentrate a solution consisting
of a nonvolatile solute and a volatile solvent. In the overwhelming
majority of evaporations the solvent is water.
When the liquid phase is agitated, mass-transfer in the liquid phase
is sufficiently rapid that the rate of evaporation of solvent can be
determined by the rate of heat transfer from the heating medium,
usually condensing steam, to the solution.
Evaporation differs from drying in that the residue is a liquidsometimes a highly viscous one-rather than a solid.
it differs from distillation in that the vapor usually is a single
component, and even when the vapor is a mixture, no attempt is
made in the evaporation step to separate the vapor into fractions.
Mineral-bearing water often is evaporated to give a solid-free
product for boiler feed, for special process requirements, or for
human consumption. This technique is often called water distillation,

Liquid characteristics
1. Concentration
.The density and viscosity increase with solid content
until either the solution becomes saturated or the liquor
becomes too viscous for adequate heat transfer.
.continued boiling of a saturated solution causes crystals
to form; these must be removed or the tubes clog.
.The boiling point of the solution may also rise
considerably as the solid content increases, so that the
boiling temperature of a concentrated solution may be
much higher than that of water at the same pressure.
2. Foaming
A stable foam accompanies the vapor out of the
evaporator, causing heavy entrainment. In extreme cases
the entire mass of liquid may boil over into the vapor
outlet and be lost.
3. Temperature sensitivity
4. Scale
5. Materials of construction
6. Toxicity, explosion hazards, radioactivity, and

Once-through circulation
evaporators
These evaporators are well adapted to multiple-effect operation
Agitated-film evaporators are always operated once through
Falling-film and climbing-film evaporators can also be operated in
this way
Useful for heat-sensitive materials, By operating under high
vacuum, the temperature of the liquid can be kept low
With a single rapid passage through the tubes the thick liquor is at
the evaporation
Temperature but a short time and can be quickly cooled as soon as
it leaves the evaporator

Circulation evaporators
Although the average residence time of the liquid in the heating
zone may be short, part of the liquid is retained in the evaporator
for a considerable time. Prolonged heating of even a small part of
a heat-sensitive material like a food can ruin the entire product.
Climbing-film evaporators are usually circulation units.

Continuous flow evaporators

1. Horizontal-tube evaporator.
inside of which steam condenses
and outside of which the solution to
be concentrated boils.
Agitation is provided only by the
movement of the bubbles formed.
Therefore, this type of unit is only
suitable for low-viscosity solutions
that do not deposit scale on the heattransfer surfaces.

Continuous flow evaporators

2. Short-vertical-tube evaporator.
solution inside the tubes and steam
condensing outside.
Boiling inside the tube causes the
solution to circulate, thus providing
additional agitation
not suitable
solutions.

for

very

viscous

Continuous flow evaporators

3. Long-vertical-tube evaporator
Higher tube-entering liquid velocity
Higher heat-transfer coefficient
For liquids that tend to foam.

Continuous flow evaporators

4. Forced-circulation evaporator
Very viscous solutions
A pump is used to force the solution
upward
Through relatively short tubes
Because of the high velocities in a
forced-circulation
evaporator,
the
residence time of the liquid in the
tubes is short-about 1 to 3 s-so that
moderately heat-sensitive liquids can
be concentrated in them.
Salting liquors or those that tend to
foam.

Continuous flow evaporators

5. Falling-film evaporator
heat-sensitive solutions such as fruit
juices
The flows as a film inside walls of the
tubes
The concentrate and the vapor
produced are separated at the
bottom

Continuous flow evaporators

6. AGITATED-FILM EVAPORATOR
The principal resistance to overall heat
transfer from the steam to the boiling
liquid in an evaporator is on the liquid
side. One way of reducing this resistance,
especially with viscous liquids, is by
mechanical agitation of the liquid film.
This is a modified falling-film evaporator
with a single jacketed tube containing an
internal agitator.
High rates of heat transfer with viscous
liquids
Viscous heat-sensitive products as
gelatin, rubber latex, antibiotics, and fruit
juices.

Performance of tubular evaporators

Capacity is defined as the number of kilograms of water vaporized
per hour.
Economy is the number of kilograms vaporized per kilogram of
steam fed to the unit.
In a single-effect evaporator the economy is nearly always less than
1, but in multiple-effect equipment it may be considerably greater.
The steam consumption, in kilograms per hour, is also important. It
equals the capacity divided by the economy.
The rate of heat transfer q through the heating surface of an
evaporator is the product of three factors: the area of the heattransfer surface A, the overall heat-transfer coefficient U, and the
overall temperature drop T.
q = UAT

Evaporator Economy
Influencing factor
1. Number of effects
By proper design the enthalpy of vaporization of the steam to the
first effect can be used one or more times, depending on the number
of effects.
2. Temperature of the feed

Effect of the feed state on the

capacity
If the feed to the evaporator is at the boiling temperature
corresponding to the absolute pressure in the vapor space, all the
heat transferred through the heating surface is available for
evaporation and the capacity is proportional to q.
If the feed is cold, the heat required to heat it to its boiling point
may be quite large and the capacity for a given value of q is reduced
accordingly, as heat used to heat the feed is not available for
evaporation.
if the feed is at a temperature above the boiling point in the vapor
space, a portion of the feed evaporates spontaneously by adiabatic
equilibration with the vapor-space pressure and the capacity is
greater than that corresponding to q. This process is called
flash evaporation.

Boiling-point elevation (BPE)

For a given pressure in the vapor space of an evaporator, the boiling
temperature of an aqueous solution will be equal to that of pure
water if the solute is not dissolved in the water but rather consists of
small, insoluble, colloidal material.
If the solute is soluble, the boiling temperature will be greater than
that of pure water by an amount known as the boiling-point elevation
of the solution.
In actual evaporators, however, the boiling point of a solution is
affected by two factors, boiling-point elevation and liquid head.
If, as is usually the case, the solute has little or no vapor pressure,
the evaporator
pressure is equal to the partial pressure of the water in the solution.
Then, by a modified Raoult's law:

Diihring chart for

aqueous solutions of
sodium hydroxide.

Nomograph for
boiling-point
elevation
of
aqueous
solutions

Effect of liquid head and friction on

temperature drop
If the depth of liquid in an evaporator is appreciable, the boiling
point corresponding to the pressure in the vapor space is the boiling
point of the surface layer of liquid only.
The average boiling point of the liquid in the tubes is higher than the
boiling point corresponding to the pressure in the vapor because:
1. pressure of the vapor space
2. head of Z meters or feet of liquid
3. frictional loss in the tubes increases the average pressure of the
liquid (large liquid velocity).
.This increase in boiling point lowers the average temperature drop
between the steam and the liquid and reduces the capacity.
.The amount of reduction cannot be estimated quantitatively with
precision, but the qualitative effect of liquid head, especially with
high liquor levels and high liquid velocities, should not be ignored.
.The temperature drop is fixed by the properties of the steam and
the boiling liquid and except for the effect of hydrostatic head is not a
function of the evaporator construction.

Heat transfer coefficients

The overall coefficient, on the other hand, is strongly influenced by
the design and method of operation of the evaporator.
the overall resistance to heat transfer between the steam and the
boiling liquid is the sum of five individual resistances:
1. The steam-film resistance (not important, the presence of noncondensable gas seriously reduces the steam-film coefficient)
2. Inside and outside the tubes
3. The tube-wall resistance (not important)
4. The resistance from the boiling liquid.

The liquid-side coefficient

The liquid-side coefficient depends to a large extent on the velocity
of the liquid over the heated surface. In most evaporators, and
especially those handling viscous materials, the resistance of the
liquid side controls the overall rate of heat transfer to the boiling
liquid.
Forced circulation gives high liquid-side coefficients even though
boiling inside the tubes is suppressed by the high static head.
The formation of scale on the tubes of an evaporator adds a
thermal resistance equivalent to a fouling factor.

single-effect evaporation
When a single evaporator is used, the vapor from the boiling liquid is
condensed and discarded. This method is called single-effect
evaporation, and although it is simple, it utilizes steam ineffectively.
To evaporate 1 kg of water from a solution calls for from 1 to 1.3 kg of
steam.

Continuous-flow, steady-state
model evaporator
1. The thin-liquor feed has only one
volatile component, e.g., water.
2. Only the latent heat of the
heating steam at T, is available for
heating and vaporizing the solution
in the evaporator.
3. The boiling action on the heatexchanger surfaces agitates the
solution,
in
the
evaporator,
sufficiently to achieve perfect
mixing Te= Tp and Tv = Tp.
4. Driving force for heat transfer =
T = Ts - Tp
5. The T is high enough to achieve
nucleate boiling and not so high as
to cause film boiling
6. No heat loss from the evaporator

weight-fraction
solute: wf
mass flow rate: mf

Continuous-flow, steady-state
model evaporator

Enthalpy-concentration diagram for sodium hydroxide-water

system.

Multiple-Effect Evaporator
Systems
When condensing steam is used to evaporate water from an
aqueous solution, the heat of condensation of the higher
temperature condensing steam is less than the heat of
vaporization
of
the
lower-temperature
boiling
water.
consequently, less than 1 kilogram of vapor is produced per
kilogram condensation of heating steam. This ratio is called the
economy.
To reduce the amount of steam required and, thereby, increase
the economy, a series of evaporators, called effects, can be
used.
The increased economy is achieved by operating the effects at
different pressures, and thus at different boiling temperatures,
so that vapor produced in one effect can be condensed to
supply the heat in another effect.

Multiple-Effect Evaporator Systems

1. Forward-feed, triple-effect

Multiple-Effect Evaporator Systems

1. Forward-feed, triple-effect
This pattern of liquid flow is the simplest.
One-third of the total evaporation occurs in each effect.
To achieve a temperature-driving force for heat transfer in the second
effect, the pressure of the second effect, P2, is lower than that of the
first effect. This procedure is repeated in the third effect.
For three effects, the flow rate of steam entering the first is only
about one-third of the amount of steam that would be required if only
one effect were used.
the temperature-driving force in each of the three effects is only
about one-third of that in a single effect.
Therefore, the heat transfer area of each of the three evaporators in
a triple-effect system is approximately the same as for the one
evaporator in a single-effect unit.
It requires a pump for feeding dilute solution to the first effect, since
this effect is often at about atmospheric pressure, and a pump to
remove thick liquor from the last effect. The transfer from effect to
effect, however, can be done without pumps, since the flow is in the
direction of decreasing pressure, and control valves in the transfer line

Multiple-Effect Evaporator Systems

2. Backward-feed, triple-effect

Backward-feed, triple-effect
When the temperature of the fresh feed is significantly below its
saturation temperature corresponding to the pressure in the first
effect, backward-feed operation is desirable.
The cold fresh feed is sent to the third effect, which operates at
the lowest pressure and, therefore, the lowest temperature.
Unlike the forward-feed system, pumps are required to move the
concentrate from one effect to the next because PI > P2 > P3.
Backward feed often gives a higher capacity than forward feed
when the thick liquor is viscous, but it may give a lower economy
than forward feed when the feed liquor is cold.

Multiple-Effect Evaporator Systems

3. mixed feed

Multiple-Effect Evaporator Systems

4. parallel feed

CAPACITY AND ECONOMY OF

MULTIPLE-EFFECT EVAPORATORS
The total capacity of a multiple-effect evaporator is usually no
greater than that of a single-effect evaporator having a heating
surface equal to one of the effects and operating under the same
terminal conditions, and, when there is an appreciable boiling-point
elevation, is often considerably smaller.
When the boiling-point elevation is negligible, the effective overall
T equals the sum of the T's in each effect, and the amount of
water evaporated per unit area of surface in an N-effect multipleeffect evaporator is approximately 1/Nth that in the single effect.

Effect of boiling-point elevation on

capacity of evaporators

Effect of boiling-point elevation on

capacity of evaporators
Consider an evaporator that is concentrating a solution with a large
boiling-point elevation. The vapor coming from this boiling solution is at
the solution temperature and is therefore superheated by the amount
of the boiling point elevation.
Superheated steam is essentially equivalent to saturated steam at the
same pressure when used as a heating medium.
The temperature drop in any effect, therefore, is calculated from the
temperature of saturated steam at the pressure of the steam chest,
and not from the temperature of the boiling liquid in the previous
effect. This means that the boiling-point elevation in any effect is lost
from the total available temperature drop. This loss occurs in every
effect of a multiple-effect evaporator, and the resulting loss of capacity
is often important.
The boiling-point elevation tends to make the capacity of a multipleeffect evaporator less than that of the corresponding single effect.
In a single-effect unit producing 50 percent NaOH, for example, the
overall coefficient U for this viscous liquid would be small. In a tripleeffect unit, the coefficient in the final effect would be the same as that
in the single effect, but in the other effects, where the NaOH

The economy of a multiple effect evaporator depends on heatbalance considerations and not on the rate of heat transfer.
The capacity is reduced by the boiling-point elevation.
The capacity, on the other hand, is reduced by the boiling-point
elevation. The capacity of a double-effect evaporator concentrating a
solution with a boiling-point elevation is generally less than half the
capacity of two single effects, each operating with the same overall
temperature drop. The capacity of a triple effect is generally less than
one-third that of three single effects with the same terminal
temperatures.
The optimum number of effects must be found from an economic
balance between the savings in steam obtained by multiple-effect
operation and the added investment required.