EVAPORATION

Evaporation is an operation that is carried out in an industry as a means of

concentrating a weak liquorsolution !y "apori#ing a portion of the sol"ent$ The weak
liquorsolution is composed of a non%"olatile solute and a "olatile sol"ent$
Objective: The o!&ecti"e of e"aporation is to concentrate a solution consisting of a
non "olatile solute and a "olatile sol"ent$
In this operation' the sol"ent to !e e"aporated is generally water and the concentrated
solutionthick liquor is the desired product$ The "apour generated usually has no "alue' it
is condensed and discarded$
It differs from drying in that the residue o!tained is a liquid rather than a solid$
It differs from distillation in that the "apour is usually a single component and
e"en if it is a mi(ture' it is not separated into fractions$
It differs from crystallisation in that the purpose is to concentrate a solution rather
than to form and !uild crystals$
E"aporation is generally followed !y crystallisation and drying$
E"aporation is carried !y supplying heat to a solution to "aporise the sol"ent$ )ommon
heating medium *heat source+ is generally a low pressure steam !ut in some situations
other sources that might he used are solar energy' fuel' electricity' hot oil and flue%gas$
The heat is utilised to ,
*i+ increase the temperature of the solution to its !oiling point and
*ii+ supply the latent heat of "aporisation of the sol"ent$
Though the se"eral rate processes occur *heat transfer from a heating medium to a
solution through the solid surface' simultaneous heat and mass transfer from a liquid to a
"apour phase+' the operation can usually !e considered in terms of heat transfer from a
heater to the solution *heat transfer to !oiling liquids+ for design of e"aporators$
There is a wide "ariation in characteristics of liquor to !e concentrated that requires
&udgment and e(perience in designing and operating e"aporators$ -ome of the properties
of e"aporating liquids that influence the process of e"aporation are.
*i+ Concentration: As the concentration increases' the solution !ecomes more and more
indi"idualistic$ The "iscosity and density increase with solid content$ The !oiling point of
solution also increases considera!ly with solid content so that it may much higher than
/$P of water$
*ii+ Foaming: -ome materials ha"e tendency to foam that causes hea"y entrainment
*carry o"er of a portion of the liquid !y the rising "apour is called as an entrainment+$
*iii+ Scale: -ome solutions deposit scale on the heat transfer surfaces that results in
reduction of the heat transfer coefficient and hence the heat transfer rate$ It is therefore
necessary to clean the tu!es at definite inter"als$
*i"+Temperature sensitivity: -ome materials especially pharmaceuticals and food products
are damaged when heated to a moderate temperature e"en for short times$ 0or
concentrating such materials special techniques are to !e used that reduce the temperature
and also the time of heating$
*"+ Materials of construction: 1enerally e"aporators are made of mild steel whene"er
contamination and corrosion is not a pro!lem$ -pecial materials such as copper' nickel'
stain steels may !e used$ Other liquid characteristics that must !e considered in design
are specific heat' free#ing point' to(icity' e(plosion ha#ards' and radioacti"ity$
The selection of the e"aporator for a particular application is !ased on the analysis
of the factors such as the properties of liquid to !e concentrated' operating cost' capacity'
hold ups and residence time$ 2igh product "iscosity' heat sensiti"ity' scale formation and
deposition are the ma&or pro!lems encountered during operation of e"aporators and
should !e taken into account while designing of e"aporator for new installation$
3sually' the desired product of e"aporation operation is the concentrated solution
*called thick liquor+' !ut occasionally the e"aporated sol"ent is the primary product as in
e"aporation of sea water to o!tain pota!le water$
Common examples of evaporation are:
)oncentration of aqueous solutions of sugars' sodium chloride' sodium hydro(ide'
glycerol' milk and fruit &uices$
Performance of tubular evaporators:
The performance of a steam heated tu!ular e"aporator is e"aluated in terms of
*i+ capacity and *ii+ economy$
Capacity: )apacity of an e"aporator is defined as the num!er of kilogram of water
"aporised e"aporated per hour$
The rate of heat transfer 4' through the heating surface of an e"aporator' is the product of
the area of the heat transfer surface A' the o"erall heat transfer coefficient 3' and the
o"erall temperature drop 5T$
Q =U A T
5T is the temperature difference !etween the heating medium and the !oiling liquor$
*saturation temperature of steam minus !oiling point of solution+$
If the feed solution is at the !oiling temperature corresponding to the pressure in
the "apour pace of an e"aporator' then all the heat transferred through the heating surface
is a"aila!le for e"aporation and the capacity is proportional to the heat transfer rate$ If the
cold feed solution is ad to e"aporator' heat is required to increase its temperature to the
!oiling point and it may !e a quite large and thus' the capacity for a gi"en rate of heat
transfer will !e reduced accordingly as heat used to increase the temperature to the
!oiling point is not a"aila!le for e"aporation$ 6hen the feed solution to the e"aporator is
at a temperature higher than the !oiling point corresponding to the pressure in the "apour
space' a portion of the feed e"aporates adia!atically and the capacity is greater than that
corresponding to the heat transfer rate$ It is called as flash e"aporation$
Evaporator economy: Economy of an e"aporator is defined as the num!er of kilogram of
water e"aporated per kilogram of steam fed to the e"aporator$ It is also called as steam
economy$
In a single%effect e"aporator' the amount of water e"aporated per kg of steam fed
is always less than one and hence economy is less than one$ The fact that the latent heat
of e"aporation of water decreases as the pressure increases tends to make the ratio of
water "apour produced per kg of steam condensed less than unity$
Increase in economy of an e"aporator is achie"ed !y reusing the "apour produced$
The methods of increasing the economy are:
*i+ use of a multiple effect e"aporation system
*ii+ "apour recompression$
In a multiple effect e"aporation system' the "apour produced in the first effect is
fed to the steam chest of the second effect as a heating medium in which !oiling takes
place at low pressure and temperature and so on$ Thus' in a triple%effect e"aporator' 7 kg
of steam fed to the first effect e"aporates appro(imately 8$9 kg of steam$
Another method to increase the economy of an e"aporator is to use principle of
thermo compression$ 2ere the "apour from the e"aporator is compressed to increase its
temperature so that it will condense at a temperature higher enough to permit its use as a
heating media in the same e"aporator$
Boiling point elevation:
In actual practice' the !oiling point of a solution is affected !y a !oiling point
ele"ation and a liquid head$
As the "apour pressure of most aqueous solutions is less than that of water at any
gi"en temperature' the !oiling point of the solution is higher than that of pure water at a
gi"en pressure$ The difference !etween the !oiling point of a solution and that of pure
water at any gi"en pressure is known as the !oiling point riseele"ation of the solution$
/oiling point ele"ation is small for dilute solutions and large for concentrated solutions
of inorganic salts$
/oiling point ele"ation of strong solutions can !e o!tained from an empirical rule known
as :uhring;s rule$ It states that the !oiling point of a gi"en solution is a linear function of
the !oiling point of pure water at the same pressure$ -o' when the !oiling point of the
solution is plotted against the !oiling point of water' we get a straight line$ 0ig shows plot
for aqueous solution of caustic soda of "arious concentrations$
Fig: Duhrings plot for !aO"
Material and enthalpy balances for single-effect evaporator:
)onsider that the e"aporator is fed with mf kgh of the weak solution containing
w7 < solute and the thick liquor is withdrawn at m kgh containing w8 < solids !y
weight$ =et m" kghr of water e"aporated$ Then.
Fig: #loc$ diagram of evaporator
Overall material balance:
mf >m" ? m
Material balance of solute:
-olute in feed > -olute in thick liquor
@nowing three out of fi"e quantities' we can find the "alues of other two with the
help a!o"e two equations$
=et Tf' T and Ts !e the temperatures of feed entering the e"aporator' solutions in the
e"aporators and condensing steam respecti"ely$