Western European Energy

Conservation Technologies
for Evaporators

Technical Briefing Report

Technology Transfer
Office of Industrial Programs
U.S. Y
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&luns 1980
 Technology Transfer
A Technical Briefing Report
by the
U.S. Departmentof Energy
Assistant Secretary for
.Conservation e

and Solar Energy

Office of Industrial Proarams

Published by
Technical Information Center
U.S. Department of Energy
0

0
 One of the most energy-intensive sultants, aimed a t reducing energy supplies have been experienced in
unit operations in the production of use per unit of production. As indi- Western Europe and have promoted
foods, chemicals, and pulp and pa- cated in Fig. 1, an energy project . the demonstration and advancement
per is evaporation, which is also with a discounted-cash-flow (DCF) of technology for evaporators. These
being used now by industries to rate of return after taxes of 20% in advanced technologies are available
recover or concentrate waste prod- 1970 will have a significantly higher and can be transferred between the
ucts from wastewater. Since in most DCF today. United States and Western Europe
cases evaporafors are used to remove Energy savings and economics can because of the activities of domes-
water from nonvolatile organic1 be predicted with reasonable ac- tic vendors in Western Europe and
inorganic products, the consump- curacy for any evaporator; how- foreign vendors in the United States.
tion of steam, and therefore the ever, other factors must be addressed This Technical Briefing Report
costs for energy, can be a significant before an installed unit is upgraded presents the status of evaporation
fraction of the manufacturing costs. or a larger, more energy-efficient technologies in Western Europe and
Energy costs increased rapidly unit is selected. For example, the identifies those methods and tech-
during 1973 in the United States long-term reliability of operation, nologies which have been proven
and Western Europe. The costs of maintenance costs, and possible ef- and can bc applied by U.S. manu-
energy for evaporation have nuearly fects on prndt.tct quality or capacity facturers. Because these Lecl~rlolu-
tripled and have greatly exceeded must be assessed since any decrease gies have been demonstrated,
the equivalent escalation of the in productivity or quality could managers in process industries can
costs for capital equipment. Because quickly reduce the economic gains properly assess the economic bene-
ot the disparity between the price achievable through energy savings. fits of energy conservation in evapo-
increases for energy and for. hard- Often the maximum levels of energy ration without factoring in costs
ware, as shown in Fig. 1, the eco- efficiency already demonstrated by associated with operational prob-
nomics of modifying evaporators or one company can influence the in- lems.
replacing older evaporators with .dustry t o incorporate energy- The energy savings and perfor-
highly energy-efficient systems have conserving technologies because mance of these technologies in in-
improved t o the point that industry quality and production capacity are dustrial plants are presented t o
has embarked on programs, in co- known. provide additional incentives for
operation with vendors and con- The effects on operating costs of U.S. manufacturers t o reduce energy
energy prices and restrictions on

Fig. 1 Energy and equipment cost in-

creases and the effect of these increases on

- the economics of energy conservation

600 t - Equipment-cost escalation (index)

Energy-cost escalation (index)
"" DCF rate of return (%)

1970
1971
Cost of
imported
fuel oil, $/bbl
2.17
Equipment cost
(Marshall and
Swift index)
303.3
2.36 321.3
1972 2.50 332.0
1973 3.28 344.1
1974 11.06 398.4
1975 11.49 444.3
1976 12.08 472.1
1977 14.23 505.4
1978* 14.49 540.0
nPlguroc blMU on 2nd quarter ot 1970.

Basis for DCF rate of return

Depreciation = 10%/yr straight line
Maintenance = 0.06 of investment
Maintenance labor = 0.02 of investment
Taxes and insurance = 0.02 of investment
CONTRIBUTORS TO'EVAFORATOR EVALUATION

Major industries or
Vendors ' Location evaporation application

Company
APV International, Ltd. Crawley, England Foods, wastewater
Aussedot Rey* Velizy-Villacoublay, France Pulp and paper
Esmil B.V. IJmuiden, Holland Desalinationladvanced heat transfer
Lurgi Apparate-Technik GmbH Frankfurt, Germany Pulp and paper, chemicals
Societd Fran~aiseWhiting Fermont Paris, France Chemicals
AB Rosenblads Patenter Stockholm, Sweden Pulp and paper
Stein Industries, S.A. Yelizy-Villacoublay, France Power plants, pulp and paper
The Swedish Steam Users' Association* Stockholm, Sweden Pulp and paper
Stork-Friesland B.V. Gorredijk, Holland Dairy, chemicals
Wiegand Karlsruhe GmbH Ettlingen, Germany Foods, chemicals, wastewater

Industrial plants
Avebe Ooftermoer, Netherlands Potato starch
Esmil B.V. Amersfort, Netherlands Desalination (research facilities)
E. Holtzman Karlsruhe, Germany Pulp
Neerlandia Stornpetoren, Holland Dairy
North British Distillery Edinburgh, Scotland Distillery
DePrinfes Lirsem, Holland Dairy
Stora Kopparberg Skutskar, Sweden Pulp
Sud-Lait Recogne, Belgium Dairy

"Consultants.

consumption by improving the oper- maximum economy based on The data and opinions expressed
ating costs of evaporation. This present levels of technology in the in this report were obtained from
report highlights advanced tech- chemical, pulp and paper, and food the companies listed in the accom-
nologies or installations that exhibit industries. panying table.

Evaporators are integral parts of Energy-conservation practices for increase in energy costs and restric-
a complete process for manufactur- evaporation developed sooner in tions in supply since 1973, the up-
ing food and chemical products; Western Europe for many industries grading trends and future develop-
therefore, the energy use and design than they did in the United States ment and implementation of new
of evaporators are not made strictly because the economics of energy technologies should be similar. The
on the basis of economics. Energy- savings was better. Also, since the status of European evaporator
conservation practices in Europe early 1950s, European industries practices and basic differences be-
vary because of the price and avail- have experienced the threat of tween them and U.S. practices are
ability of energy, governmental losses in energy supply because each discussed in the following para-
policies, and process design. Also, country relies heavily on foreign graphs. o
the vendors, who have traditionally energy producers. Evaporator de-
supplied the majority of the sys- signs by European vendors, there- TECHNOLOGY
tems, incorporate different design fore, usually have included options Heat-recovery techniques, such as
techniques that can affect the that would optimize energy use to thermocompression, condensate
energy efficiencies of evaporators9 the point of technological develop- flashing, feed preheating, and waste-
within each industry. The same ment because the industrial managers heat recovery, have been routinely
situation exists in the United vvo~.~ldaccept the additional costs incorporated to the limits of control
States. for investment. Since U.S. indus- or technology since the early 1960s.
tries also have experienced a rapid
During the same time U.S. evapora- The application of mechanical assistance through consulting firms
tor systems usually were based on vapor recompression, long recog- or universities. Some policies put
lowest hardware costs without heat- nized as a major energy-conserving into effect provide guidelines t o in-
recovery systems, particularly in the option t o multieffect evaporators, dustry on energy consumption and
food industry and for low-capacity has been limited because of higher some place reystrictions and taxes on
chemical applications. For large- investment costs, capacity restric- energy use or specify the type of
volunie chemical evaporators, such tions, the physical properties of fuel that can be used by industry t o
as those for caustic and pulp liquor, the products being concentrated, generate steam. Since 1976,these
the heat-recovery systems used were and concern over maintenance actions by governmental agencies
similar in the United States and costs. Because back-pressure tur- have prompted industrial managers
Western Europe. bines and waste-heat recovery sys- and evaporator vendors t o develop
After lb973, the upgrading proj- tems are widely used, most vendors and incorporate new systems t o re-
ects in Western Europe involved i n Western Europe do not consider' place older, less energy-efficient
modifications requiring major invest- mechanical vapor recompression o evaporators. Evaporator applications
ments, such as increasing the num- a majot technology for reducing and designs that use waste heat from
ber of effects or shutting down energy usage. The U.S. vendors and other unit operations or exhaust
several older evaporators and re- industry are expecting t o employ sleal.l-lfrol-n bdck-p~.essu~.e
turbines
placing them with a single high- mechanical vapor recompression a are now being installed t o ensure
capacity system exhibiting much systems in the pulp and paper and that the energy consumed by the
higher energy efficiency. Currently food industries to a much greater plant remains constant or decreases
six-effect evaporators are common extent than their European to conform with these policies. In
in the dairy industry and i n pulp counterparts. addition, research and development
mills for black liquor concentration; to advance the commercialization of
in the future, four-effect evapora- computer control and alternative
ENERGY POLICY
tors will be used for caustic con- concentration technologies, such as
centration. European governmental agencies membrane concentration techniques
have provided support for upgrading and enhanced heat-transfer methods,
evaporators by funding demonstra- are being promoted.
tion projects or providing technical
Q

~overnme;~tal regulations on the The general approach in Europe

industrial use of fuel oil have ac- for future upgrading projects in-
Numerous factors govern selection celerated the application of new cludes an evaluation of the energy
and design of evaporators by West- technologies for evaporation and consumption for all unit operations
ern European industries and ven- also the development of approaches before evaporator designs are se-
dors. Even before the rapid increase for integrating the evaporators into lected. Although evaporators con-
in energy prices after 1973,the the total systems for the manufac- sume considerable amounts of
price of energy and the lack of turing processes. energy, they are being used in
dodestic energy supplies i n Europe The differences between U.S. and Europe t o supply waste heat to *
had been major considerations for European managerial philosophies other unit operations in the plant.
the commercialization and develop- toward evaporator designs are not and as heat sinks for back-pressure
ment of energy-efficient evaporation as significant today as they were turbincs in combined steamlpower
systems. Although economics were several years ago. Although manu- systems.
important, every new evaporator facturing processes do vary, evapo;
system included heat-recovery rator dzsigns are becoming similar
options up to the limit of large ENERGY COST AND SUPPLY
because energy prices are high and
capital investment modifications experiences of energy-supply limita- The major-investment~modifica-
where the returns on investment tions have been shared. Many tions for energy conservation in
for the equipment became too low existing evaporators in the United Eurvpe are approved generally with
or the technology applications were States, however, can,be upgraded 15 t o 20% return on investment
not proven. with heat-recovery options that after taxes. However, the lack of
The experience of production have always been standard in domestic energy supplies in coun-
losses when energy supplies were Western Europe. tries such as France and a total
restricted during 1973 also pro- dependence on imported oil provide
moted vigorous upgrading efforts the incentives for many managers *
by European industry and vendors. to install energy-efficient evapora-
4
tors with lower returns on invest- with heat-recovery options and The equipment cost indices show
ment. Given this situation, the waste-heat utilization. a general rise in installed equipment
vendors have become accustomed I n addition t o energy supply costs in the process industries. Since
t o competing on the basis of energy concerns, European energy prices evaporator costs depend on mate-
efficiencies rather than on the basis have been higher than those in the rials of construction, capacity, and
of lowest hardware costs. United States. Before 1973, hard- design, the costs for evaporators are
Within the economic constraints ware costs in Europe were proba- not available. However, the changes
of major hardware modifications, bly lower. Therefore, the econom- in energy and hardware costs since
such as mechanical vapor recom- ics for incorporating heat-recovery 1973 do show that the economics
pression and the number of effects, options or major hardware modifi- for energy conservation are greatly
the designs by vendors usually in- cations have been more favorable improved. For example, since 1973
clude heat-recovery systems, such for a longer time in Europe. Since the cost of imported fuel oil in the
as feed preheaters and thermo- 1970, however, the trends of rising United States has risen 340% com-
compressors, and provisions for costs for energy and hardware pared with only 100% in Germany.
using the waste heat from the (Figs. 2 and 3) have been similar for Equipment costs in the United
evaporators to conserve energy in the United States and Western States and Germany rose 30%,
other areas of the plants. Demon- Europe. In Europe electricity and whereas the increase in the United
stration of evaporator applications oil are still generally priced above Kingdom and Sweden exceeded
using waste heat from dryers or the average U.S. figures today. 60%.
high-temperature condensate or As in different areas of the United The 1978 prices for fuel oil show
waste streams has been promoted States, energy prices can vary within that the prices in Western Europe
by vendors t o improve market each country. For example, elec- have been approximately 36%
penetration. Therefore, the long- t r ~ c i t yprices can change because of higher for No. 2 fuel oil and 22%
term concerns of industry with the the availability of hydroelectric higher for No. 5 fuel oil than they
possibility of restrictions on energy power. These variations and, in par- are in the United States. According
supplies, which would mean produc- ticular, the differences in power costs to foreign vendors, the U.S. cost
tion losses, led t o the traditional also have influenced whether evapo- for systems equivalent t o those in
vendor approach of designing and rators are designed for economy or Western Europe is approximately
quoting basic evaporator systems are used as heat sinks for back- 20 to 30% higher.
pressure steam-turbine generators.

Fig. 2 Typical energy cost escalations

1978 fuel oil prices

#2 Oil #5 Oil
Sweden 0.50 0.34 per $/US gal
U. S. 0.39 0.30 per $/US gal
Germany 0.56 0.37 per $/US gal
England 0.55 0.40 per $/US gal
France 0.52 0.35 per $/US gal

1978 electricity costs

Sweden 0.018-0.033 per $/kwh

U. S. 0.040 per $/kwh
Germany 0.049-0.063 per $/kwh
England 0.035 per $/kwh
France 0.030 per $/kwh

1978 steam costs

West. Europe $4.50 to 5.50 per 1000 I b

U.S. 3.50 to 4.50 per 1000 Ib
 Fig. 3 Equipment cost indices for
Western European industries

- Marshall and Swift equipment

-- cost index for U.S.

Sweden's indices for machinery

o - and equipment
West German indices for machinery

.... in chemical industry

..
Data suoolied- on
- -.
evaoorator
- ---
hardware costs in U. K.
and
-

t/

EUROPEAN GOVERNMENT POLICIES

European government regulations and use exhaust steam for evapora- energy use. In France industrial
on energy supply and costs are still tion. The new evaporators can be plants must evaluate the impact of
being developed. The effects these designed to use the same amount or the government decision t o use
policies are having on upgrading less total energy than the in-place nuclear power. The French govern-
projects cannot be accurately pre- evaporators even with increased ment has estimated that by 1980
dicted. However, from discussions capacity. approximately 85% of France's elec-
with vendors and industrial man- Where cogeneration is employed, tricity will be generated by hydro-
agers, it appears that these policies the evaporators are designed t o use electric and nuclear power plants.
are now impacting the decision the steam rate from the turbines, This will significantly reduce the
making on upgrading evaporators to which is based on the electrical de- import of fuel oil. Since the supply
a much greater extent than they did mand for the plant. The steam from of electricity will exceed consumer
a short time ago. Some government ihe turbines becomes the design demands, the French government,
regulations already have set maxi- criteria for the vendors. Govern- by supplying technical data and
mum oil use levels for many plants ment policies have forced many investment incentives and imposing
and have required industries t o use industries t o evaluate total energy taxes on fuel oil, i s encouraging
Bunker C type fuel oil as the energy usage in the manufacturing industry t o convert existing
source. processes rather than isolating the processes from steam to electric
Governmental restrictions on evaporator for energy-conservation systems t o further decrease oil
total energy use have limited fur- optimization. consumption. In France, therefore,
ther expansions in capacity t o re- Government policy on taxes mechanical vapor recompression for
placing older equipment with more for energy use and the various evaporators will likely be used with
efficient evaporators or t o installing national goals for achieving energy more frequency in future expan-
cogeneration systems that reduce independence must be considered sions.
the amount of purchased electricity by industry. I n some countries,
taxes on industry are based on
INTRODUCTION coming standard'and have been used Vapor recompression using
by ch&mical and pulp and paper in- steam ejectors (thermocom-
Reusing or recovering waste dustries. Evaporators currently in pressors).
heat from condensate, vapors, feed, operation without these units are Recovery of process waste heat
and product streams is one of the prime candidates for energy savings using evaporators t o supply
most common approaches to re- a t low capital investment. steam to other unit operations.
ducing evaporator energy consGmp- Since the early 1970s, European
tion and costs. Once the number Multiple heat-recovery systems
vendors have had requests for usually are installed with the same
of effects has been set by eco- evaporators that can use waste heat
nomics or limits of technological evaporator. The energy and cost
from other process units or can advantages of each technique are
feasibility, the addition of heat- recover waste heat and supply energy
recovery equipment can achieve a obtained, and energy losses caused
for other unit operations. New ap- by operational error or fouling are
further energy savings sometimes proaches for heat recovery also are
approaching that of an additional minimized. For example, condensate
being incorporated. recovery systems greatly reduce the
effect. Heat-recovery systems sel-
The standard European :techniques energy losses associated with in-
dom affect product quality; thus
for heat recovery from evaporators creasing the steam pressure to main-
the operational risks are negligible.
European vendors and industrial are shown in Figs. 4a-d and include: tain capacity because the energy in
Condensate reuse with flash the condensate can be recovered by
users of evaporators have accepted
tanks, feedlproduct preheaters, flashing vapors in the next effect or
heat-recovery systems as standard
and steam-boiler condensate by preheating the liquors.
equipment since the early 1950s. In
recycle systems.
the United States designs including
Vapor use in feedlproduct pre-
heat-recovery systems are also be-
heaters t o preheat the product
exiting each effect or to preheat
the feed entering the first effect.

Fig. 4a Condensate cascading and

process condensate reuse '

A Feed
B Steam
C Product
D Steam condensate
E Process vapor
F Steam and process condensate to
boiler makeup
Fig. 4 b Feed1product.preheating Fig. 4c Thermal recompression Fig. 4d Waste-heat re%overy
A Heating steam A Feed % Feed
B Steam condensate B Steamlprocess condensate B Waste process heat
C Product C Product C Waste process heat out
D Coldfeed 0
D Motive steam D Product
E Vapor E Vapors E Vapor recovery for other process
uses
IMPROVING EFFICIENCY OF EVAFORATORS

Energy from Condensate automatically compensates for sate. I f condensate is too poor for
Condensate that can be reused in changes in pressure during operation. return t o the boiler, it is fed t o a
the evaporator comes from the first The potential savings for con- flash tank or sewer. The potential
effect reboiler and from the vapors densate flashing and feed preheating energy savings for steam boilers
using energy available in the con- when condensate recycle is em-
being condensed in the other effects
of multiple-effect evaporators. The densate for one application are . ployed is shown in Fig. 6.
energy and cost savings realized indicated in Fig. 5.
from reusing the condensate depend Cnnriensate alsn can hf: returned Using the Energy o f Vapors from
on the design of the evaporator directly t o the steam boiler from Each Effect
(multiple or single-effect), the pres- the first and second effect t o pro-
vide makeup water and to reduce FeedIProduct Preheating
sure of the steam entering the first Two methods of feed or product
effect, and the vapor pressure within the energy requirements associated
with preheating boiler feed water. preheating are generally employed.
each effect. For series-flow evaporators (vapor
Generally, condensate is used t o Because carry-over of the product
and liquor flows are concurrent be-
preheat feed or is flashed from one or volatiles present in the solution
.,tweeneffects), the most common
effect t o another. In a common being concentrated would con-
method is t o install heat-exchanger
European design the condensate is taminate the condensate, a con-
.tubes in the vapor spaces of the
cascaded from the first effect t o the ductivity meter i s installed to
measure the quality of the conden- liquorlvapor separators or in the
last effect in each reboiler. This de- steam chest of the evaporator tube
sign eliminates problems of control bundles. The alternative method is
with external flash tanks and also to withdraw vapors from each effect
8
l'lg. 5 yotentla1 energy savlngs troni the
reuse of condensate
Basis: Steam pressure: 1st effect = 10 psig
Forward-feedevaporator
pressure in last effect ~ 2 . 5psia
Feed composition = 12.6 wt.%
Product composition =37 wt.%

t --
.-L
E
fm
2000
-
....
Base case (feed t e m p .; 110'~)
Preheating f e e d t o 150 F using condensate
Preheating f e e d a n d condensate flashing

II N u m b e r o f effects
II
Fig. 6 Boiler fuel savinys as a function of
condensate temperature
Basis: Boiler operates at 80% efficiency
Boiler feedwater temperature = 7 0 ' ~
Boiler operated at 150 psig

to an external shell-and-tube or
plate hcat exchanger. Tor counter-
flow evaporators (vapor and liquor
flows are countercurrent between
effects), the feed or the product
from each effect is preheated in the
same manner, i.e., by vapor from
each effect. The total feed pre-
heating heat load is often reduced
by 60 to 80% of what it would be
for live steam preheating.
Figure 7 shows the steam savings
achievable for preheating feeds in a
multiple-effect series-flow evapora-
tor arrangement. Counterflow units
produce similar savings. The objec-
tive is t o raise the temperature of
the liquor close to its boiling point
before i t er11e1sLlle 1 ~ xellecl.
1
Thermal Recompression Recent advancements in thermo- Optimization
Steam ejectors (thermocompres- compressor designs and controls Generally, a combination of heat-
sors) have been widely applied t o have permitted the u s h f multiple recovery techniques for evaporators
reduce steam requirements when- thermocompression units in each must be used to gain maximum
ever condensate quality is not an evaporator. Multiple thermocom- thermal efficiency for each multiple-
important factor. A fraction of the pressors are installed in applications effect unit. Many times the selection
overhead vapors from one effect where the feed rate varies so that is based on the physical properties
enter the suction of the steam one of the compressors can be shut of the products and on the design of
ejector and are compressed to a off when the flow rate is low. the evaporator.
higher pressure and temperature by Thermocompressors also have Figure 9 shows the potential for
high-pressure steam (motive steam), been installed to compress the energy and operating cost benefits
usually from the steam boiler. After vapors over two effects, i.e., from achieved by incorporating thermo-
compression, the motive steam and the third effect to the first. The ef- compressors, condensate recovery,
compressed vapor enter the steam ficiency of multieffect evaporators and feedlproduct preheaters for
chest of one or several effects in the can be greatly improved by multiple multiple-effect evaporators. If a
evaporator. The total energy savings thermocompressors. One vendor plant installed asthree-effectevapo-
depends on the volume of overhead claimed that the savings can be en- rator rated a t 10,000 Iblhr without
vapors compressed by the steam hanced even further by compres- heat recovery, the steam rate would
ejector, which, in turn, depends on sion over two effects. For example, be approximately 37,000 Iblhr.
the compression ratio (ratio of dis- a thermocompressor installed on a Heat-recoverysystems would reduce
charge pressure from the steam three-effect evaporator can reduce the steam rate to 23,000 Iblhr.
ejector t o the pressure of the over- energy consumption by 30%. The Figure 10 shows how heat-recovery
head vapors). energy savings for installing thermo- techniques can be combined in a
compressors on multiple-effect
four-effect unit.
evaporators are shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 7 Energy savings for evaporation

from preheating feeds with vapor from
each effect of a five-effect evaporator

Steam savings basis:

A. Original fiveeffect evaporator
without feed preheaters (feed
temp., 80°F)
Steam ratio = 0.345 Ib steamhb water
evaporated
Feed solids = 12.6%
Product solids = 60.6%
B. Feed temperature with feed
preheaters using vapors from
each effect to raise feed temp.
to 160' F
Steam ratio = 0.308Ib steamllb
water evaporated
Fig. 8 Energy savings from using
.
\
thermocompressors. It was assumed i n the o n
computations that the liquor being con- '
centrated has no boiling-point rise. 20
I
(Source: Vendor's data.)
--
-
I I I
Thres-effects; no thermocompressor
Three-effects with thermocompressor
- m==- Four-effects with thermocompressor /
16
-- across 1s t effect
Four-effects w$h thermocompressor
0

.
I
JZ
across 2nd effect, steam enters
1st effect reboiler 0.
0.
O

- -
D
0*
- 0

"0 12
v;
w
w
F

0 10 20 30 40 50
Evaporative capacity, l o 3 Iblhr

Fig. Y Comparison of the energy

consumption of evaporators with heat
recovery and without heat recovery.
g 60
I
.C-
I - I I
Multiple-effect evaporator; no heat

-.-- recovery (theoretical rates)

Multiple-effect evaporators with
heat-recovery systems (typical -
demonstr~tedevaporators)

-
'i

"7
w
w
I Basis: No boiling-point rise

Number of effects

11
 ISt effect 2"' effect 3rd effect

Fig. 1 0 Schematic diagram of a four- A Steam (9700 Iblhr) D Condensate to reuse

effect evaporator integrating B Process vapor to barometric con- E Product (8800 Ib/hr at 52% total
kcot rceovcry nptinn. L ~ ~ . I I ~~
~ .I II LVYCUUIII
I ritiir~yuquiprntlnr sollds)
C Feed (50,600 Ib/hr at 9% total F Liquid level on shell side of heat
solids) exchanger
 USE OF PROCESS WASTE HEAT Sixth feed preheater uses the
waste heat directly.
Process waste heat can be used The condensate from each effect
directly t o concentrate products in i s fed in series to the next effect
an evaporator. Evaporators also can
for recovery.
generate steam from the waste heat
in process streams. These approaches The feed temperature is raised from
are becoming increasing1y popular 170°F t o approximately 260°F with
as restrictions on fuel are placed on these preheaters and condensate re-
European processors. covery systems. The thermal energy
The design of these evaporators demand for the evaporator was re-
must be based on the thermal energy duced by approximately 15 million
conditions of the process, and this Btulhr as a result of the efficiency
decreases the flexibility normally of the heat-recovery systems.
obtained when the thermal-energy Energy from the steamlair waste-
source is a steam boiler. The num- heat source is supplied t o the final
ber of effects and the design of the three feed preheaters and the first- ,
evaporator usually depend on the effect evaporator a t 144 psig and
capacity requirements, which, in 464°F. The total energy recovered
turn, depend on the energy avail- from this stream to evaporate ap-
able from the process stream. proximately 119,000 Ib of water
Sources of waste heat that have per hour from mother liquor i s
been demonstrated for evaporators 41 million Btulhr. The saturated air
include hot water from reactors, stream i s exhausted t o the atmo-
blowdown from steam boilers, and sphere. I f the waste-heat source
high-temperature air streams from were not available, approximately
dryers. 40,500 Ib of steam per hour would
be required t o achieve the same
Waste-Heat Recovery from Vapors capacity. A t a steam cost of $4 per
1000 Ib, the savings for steam is
A waste-heat evaporator was in- $1 62 per hour, or $1 30,000
stalled in a chemical plant in West
annually.
Germany to concentrate mother
The major problems encountered
liquor containing Na, CO, and
with waste-heat evaporators that use
NaCl from 20 t o 28 wt.%. The
high-temperature airlwater streams
source of the waste heat was an
are usually fouling and inert gas (air)
airlwater vapor stream from one of
handling in the shell side of the heat
the manufacturing processes.
exchangers. Particulates in the waste
Figure 11 shows the design and
gases can cause fouling. Air in the
material balance for the four-effect
vapor reduces the heat-transfer
forced-circulation falling-film
coefficients and thus increases the
evaporator used.
investment costs of the evaporator
4th effect To reach the evaporative capacity compared with those of an evapora-
of 119,000 Iblhr, the company in- tor that i s supplied with steam from
stal led heat-recovery systems that a steam boiler. Vendors must con-
perform as follows: sider all these factors in design.
First feed preheater recovers
1-6 Integral feed preheaters
energy from the product from
7-9 Orifice plate
10 Vapor recompressor the fourth effect.
11 Flash tank Second feed preheater recovers
energy from the condensate
from the fourth effect.
Third feed preheater recovers
energy from a fraction of the
condensate from the first effect.
Fourth and fifth feed pre-
heaters use a fraction of the
first- and second-effect vapors.
1'' effect
qnd effect 3rd effect 4th effect

Fig. 11 Schematic diagram of an D Process condensate (1 23,000 Ibfhr)

evaporator with heat recovery used to E Concentrated product out
concentrate mother liquor from waste (312,000 Iblhr at 28.0 wt.%)
process gases. F Cooling water

A Stearnlair mixture at 144 psig

(37,600 Iblhr water vapor) 1-6 Feed preheaters
B ~ liquor.
~ l ( N
feed l co3 ~ N ~ c~~ 7-10
~ ^-.
~ ) ~ Vaporlliquid separators
(431,000 Iblhr at 20.3 wt.%) 11-16 Throttling valves
C Process vapor to atmosphere 17-18 Orifice plates
(33,600 Iblhr) 19 Product cooler
The operating pressures of each in Fig. 13, to concentrate the boiler
stage are approximately 7 psia, 2.9 solids from 0.25 to 1.1% using
psia, and 1.1 psia, respective1y. tempered water from the process
Vapors from the first two stages and sensible heat from the conden-
of the flash cooling unit supply the sate. Approximately 90% of the
energy for concentrating mother thermal energy required for the
liquor from 20 t o 28 wt.% in a evaporation rate is supplied by the
double-effect evaporator. The tempered-water source. The steam
evaporation rate of the double-effect generated in the evaporator from
evaporator is 132,000 Iblhr. Vapors the condensate is approximately
from the first stage of the flash cool- 179,000 Iblhr. To generate the
ing unit enter the first effect of the same steam rate using a fuel-oil-
double-effect evaporator. Additional fired boiler would require approxi-
energy for concentration is supplied mately 210 million Btulhr, or 12.5
from the second stage of the flash million gallons of fuel oil annually.
cooling unit to the second effect.
Total utility requirements are Fig. 13 Schematic diagram of an
'1 3U0 Iblhr ot steam for steam ejec- evaporator with heat recoven/ in which
tors and 10,000 gpm of water for steam is generated by waste heat re-
condensing vapors. The steam rate covered from boiler blowdown con-
densate and tempered water
t o concentrate the mother lye in a
A Boiler blowdown 231,000 Iblhr
conventional double-effect evapora-
at 0.25 wt.% concentration
tor would be approximately 82,000 (T = 297" F)
Ib/hr. Therefore, the total savings B Plant tempered water in.
for steam based on $4.0011000 Ib 7750 gpm at 277°F
i s $328 per hour. C Plant tempered water out at 237°F
Energy is also available in many D Concentrated blowdown
large plants from boiler blowdown 52,500 Iblhr at 1.1 wt.%
condensate and tempered water. An concentration (T = 2 2 3 ' ~ )
E Steam to lime softeners
evaporator was installed, as shown
178,500 Iblhr at 3.6 psig

MAINTENANCE OF OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

Properly designed evaporators will changes in operating conditions that Temperature and pressure
meet capacity and product specif ica- affect capacity and energy con- gauges are installed in all
tions when fouling, poor vacuum sumption. European evaporators are process, liquid, and vapor
control, and changes in feed or usually supplied with instrumenta- lines. With these instru-
product conditions occur. Capacity, tion that permits routine monitoring ments, combined with
however, usually is maintained a t of evaporator performance and con- sampling of the process
the expense of energy. Although trol for the process variables and is streams, the engineers can
heat-recovery systems greatly reduce considerably beyond the minimum quickly monitor the per-
the impact of these changes in level required. Many of the evapora- formance of the evaporator
energy demands, instrumentation tors installed in the United States, by noting any changes in
and control systems must be in- particularly in the food processing temperature or pressure that
stalled in order t o make the proper and chemical ind~rstry,do not have mny indicate fauli~lgor oll~vr
adjustments in conditions and t o the instrumentation, and, when they problems.
collect data that will permit studies do have instrumentation, it some- Sight glasses and sample ports
for energy optimization. times is not properly maintained. are installed in each vapor1
Optimum performance, and The following paragraphs describe liquid separator and condensate
therefore the lowest energy costs, the standard levels of instrumenta- line so that the condition of the
must be maintained by routine tion and controls employed by separators can be checked t o
surveillance and=valuations by European vendors and the function detect carry-over of product t o
engineers and operators. of the hardware: the next effects. Carry-over can
A minimal level of instrumenta- reduce condensate quality,
tion and controls must be installed heat-transfer rates, and product
t o implement these procedures. yields, thus increasing the
l nstrumentation is necessary t o energy demand.
monitor the performance of the Automatic density-control sys-
evaporators and to determine tems are used to measure the
18
 product solids in one or more vapor from one effect t o another maintains the optimum pres-Q
effects. Any changes in product t o add or t o reduce the amount sure profile in the evaporator.
solids are corrected by adjusting of energy available for evapora- High pressures reduce product
steam pressures t o thermocom- tion. In this manner, evaporator concentrations and increase
pressors or the reboiler of the fouling from scaling due t o in- energy consumption. Fluctua-
first effect. sufficient flow is reduced. Al- tions in the pressure cause
Vaporlliquid flow controls are though these systems are in- pump cavitation, loss in ca-
installed i n multieffect evapora- stalled to maintain capacity and pacity, and product carry-over
tors with more than four effects quality, protracted on-stream from the separators into the
as part of the necessarily more times are also achieved, which steam chest of the next effect.
sophisticated automatic density- reduces cleaning frequency and Computer monitoring and con-
control system. In these systems, energy consumption. trol are being installed to
the density (concentration) of Vacuum system controls are facilitate data collection and
the product from three or more included t o prevent pressure also to maintain the highest
effects is monitored t o maintain fluctuations. The temperature capacities a t minimal energy
design conditions. I f the density in the last effect of a multi- rates. Systems have been in-
varies from the set point;liquid effect evaporator is always stalled for black liquor con-
bypass and vapor bypass sys- automatically controlled by centration in the pulp and
tems are activated t o maintain adjusting the water flow t o the paper industry, and vendors
the required concentration. The condenser when mechanical are presently quoting com-
liquid bypass system diverts a vacuum pumps are used. The puter control systems for ap-
portion of the product-flow pressure in the last effect plication in some areas of the
from one effect to another to food industry, e.g., skim milk
dilute or to increase the concen- and whey evaporators.
tration. Likewise, vapor bypass
systems divert a portion of the

STATUS OF UPGRADING improve energy consumption require conditions as pre:sure and tem-
major capital investment. perature. Many quotes are being
Evaporator upgrading activities in
Europe have increased significantly, The use of back-pressuretur- made now in which the energy rates
bines t o generate electricity i s also and conditions available for the
particularly in the food industry,
being considered by most European evaporator are set by the client;
because of favorable economics and
plants. The exhaust steam can be also the vendors are being asked t o
the experience of energy-supply design evaporators that use waste-
reductions. The upgrading projects used to run evaporators. The pres-
sure of the exhaust steam available heat energy sources. The vendors
generally are approached in two
from the turbine i s low; therefore, now must evaluate the impact on
ways. Major modifications to exist-
existing evaporators will have to be evaporator performance of varia-
ing evaporator installations requiring
high investments, such as adding replaced with evaporators that bilities in energy supply caused by
effects, have been made because the operate a t the lower steam pressure. such new energy supply sources as
evaporators already had heat- With these changes the plant will be exhaust steam from the back-
optimizing i t s energy use for manu- pressure turbines or waste heat
recovery systems, such as conden-
sate flashing, feed preheaters, and facturing by generating electricity from other unit operations.
instrumentation. The second ap- and reducing the total fuel require- The status of advanced evapora-
proach t o upgrading, particularly in ments for evaporation and manu- tion technologies and descriptions
the chemical and pulp and paper facturing. of upgrading projects in Western
industries, has been t o replace In addition t o the industrial de- Europe highlighted in this section
existing evaporators with higher mands for more-efficient evapora- are for those industries or applica-
tors, vendors have recently experi- tions that have counterparts in U.S.
capacity systems that operate a t
enced tighter industrial specifications manufacturing. Therefore, the
nearly the same total energy de-
mand. The major reason for re- on the energy use allowable for major industries covered in this
placing evaporators in the chemical evaporation. In the past, capacities upgrading section include pulp and
and pc~lpand paper industries is that were a major concern, and the paper; chemicals, such as caustic
these evaporators were specially vendors had the freedom t o set and Inorganic salt concentration;
designed with capacity as the con- energy rates and determine such ' and food industries, particularly the
trolling factor and modifications t o dairy industry.

19
Fig. 14 Schematic diagram of a pulp mill

PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY evaporated. The liquor was concen- the recovery boiler. The steam dis-
trated from 15 t o 55%. Methanol and tillation unit for stripping the con-
I n the pulp and paper industry, sulfur gaseous contaminants, which taminants from the evaporator con-
evaporators are integrated into the are vaporized during evaporation, densate also is integrated into the
manufacturing process (Fig. 14). were condensed with the vapor from evaporator system, which reduces
Therefore, upgrading programs each effect in the preheaters or final energy use by 65% to about 0.05 Ib
must take into account the condi- condensers. These,pollutants were of steam per pound of condensate.
tion of the exhaust steam from the steam stripped in a distillation
back-pressure turbines. The steam '
The energy savings as a function
column, where the steam require- of capacity for the six-effect units
for the turbines is generated in the ment was 0.15 t o 0.20 Ib per pound
recovery furnace a t a pressure of as compared with the four- and
of condensate being stripped. The five-effect systems are shown in
950 psig or higher. The concentrated off-gases from the distillation column
liquor from the evaporators and Fig. 15. A t a capacity of 350,000
were incinerated. Iblhr of evaporation, the six-effect
other combustible waste products When the overall energy economy
are fed t o the recovery furnaces and, unit reduces t11e sleart~require-
of the pulp mills was evaluated on ments by 65,000 Iblhr compared
with supplementary fuel, supply the basis of pre-1975 electricity and
most of the energy requirements of with a four-effect unit.
fuel costs, there were no economic One of the first six-effect evapo-
the pulp mill. hdvantogcs for six-cffcct evhporators.
Energy conservation for evapora- rators t o be constructed has been
Since 1975, however, standard operating since 1975 a t the Stora
tors in the sulfite and kraft pro- evaporators have been supplied with
cesses for producing chemical pulp Kopparberg plant in Skutskar,
six effects. The same basic heat- Sweden. A new pulp mill was
have followed the same trends. Be-
recovery options are employed. constructed to double pulping
fore 1975, most of the liquor Steam efficiencies of 0.19 Ib of
evaporators were four- or five-effect capacity, and two old four-effect
steam per pound of water evapo- evaporators were replaced with one
units that included heat-recovery rated are being obtained. Several
systems, such as flash tanks and feed six-effect unit. The evaporation
other improvements or changes in plant includes a six-effect falling-
preheaters. The four-effect units design increase the liquor concen-
required 0.38 Ib of steam t o evapo- film evaporator followed by a two-
tration from 55 to 65%, which re- effect forced-circulation finisher.
rate each pound of water from the duces auxiliary energy demands in
liquor; the five-effect units required The black liquor is concentrated
0.30 Ib o f steam per pound of water from 15 to 57% total solids in the
=
20
six-effect unit and reaches a final cluding digesters, evaporators, Record of steam or liquor flow
concentration of 65% total solids utility systems, recovery boilers, - rates from periods of several
in the finisher. The finisher runs and kilns. Process adjustments are minutes up t o 180 hr with date
with live d a m , but the vapors are made a t the panel board by the and times.
forwarded to the sixth effect to gain operators after they have analyzed Levels of evaporator hold tanks
additional steam economy. The total the conditions given by the moni- and identification of which
steam requirement is approximately toring systems. All process condi- tank i s being filled or,,emptied..
172,OO Iblhr, which represents a tions are stored in computer mem- Flow schematics showing de-
steam efficiency of 0.19 Ib per pound ory for 180 hr, and the engineers sign conditions.
of water evaporated for a total evapo-,, can study the changes in conditions
rative rate of 851,400 Iblhr. that caused an upset so that cor- The cost of the computer moni-
The total energy savings attribut- rective actions or process modifica- toring system, including hardware,
able t o the evaporator systems and tions can be implemented. software, and instrumentation, was
to higher product concentrations t o The following information from approximately $700,000. The sys-
the recovery furnaces are not avail- the evaporators is continuously tem is being upgraded t o provide
able from Stora Kopparberg because available with the appropriate supervisory control. Because the
of the difficulty of making com- color-coded flow diagrams or computer monitoring system and
parative analyses, which would in- tables on the operators' console. the new plant were installed a t the
clude the recovery furnace (boiler) Steam, condensate, and cooling- same time, energy and manufactur-
and back-pressure turbines. water flow rates, temperatures, ing cost savings attributable t o the
Also of interest a t that plant are pressures, and condensate computer system have not been
the computer monitoring systems, qualities. documented. The decision t o in-
which were installed in 1975 a t the Heat-transfer temperature dif- stall the computer system was
time of plant modernization. Tank ferences per effect. made on projections of reduced
levels, utility and material flow Liquor flow direction, flow operating and maintenance labor
rates, temperatures and pressures of rates, temperatures, and con- costs. An additional asset is that the
process and utility streams, process- centration from each effect. plant has been able t o maintain pro-
stream densities, and condensate Total evaporation rates from duction capacity a t a constant rate
qualities are continuously moni- each effect for the six-effect because the operators have been
tored for the complete plant, in- and finisher evaporators. able t o control and monitor the

Fig. 15 Energy rates for multiple-effect

black liquor evaporators.

250
I--
-
Four-effect evaporator
Five-effect evaporator
Six-effect evaporator with finisher

r'- 200 -
.
D
m
0

,- 150 -
7

4-

2
E,
5 100 -

50

Evaporation rate, lo3 Ib/hr

operating conditions for a l l major effects t o existing units or for new FOOD INDUSTRY
unit operations, which has elimi- installations.
nated major process upsets. However, the rise in energy costs The physical properties of many
and expectations of possible restric- food products, such as boiling-point
A second six-effect evaporator,
tions on supplies have led to one rise and viscosity, do not affect the
'shown in Fig. 16, was installed in
France during 1977. The invest- major changedin caustic evaporation. potential for upgrading evaporators
Dilute caustic soda, which is pro- as much as do the properties of most
ment for the evaporator was
duced with chlorine in electrolytic chemical products. Thermal degrada-
partially funded by the French
processes using diaphragm cells, has tion of the products is the primary
Government to demonstrate the
been concentrated from 12% t o ap- concern in improving the energy
energy-conservation potentials of
proximately 50% in triple-effect efficiencies of these evaporators.
six-effect evaporators. This system
evaporators for many years. A four- Because of thermal degradation,
replaced a four-effect unit. The
effect evaporator was purchased by evaporators are operated a t low
annual' fuel oil saving realized from temperatures and under vacuum,
improved energy efficiency for the a chemical producer in Germany
and is scheduled for start-up in which limits the A t available for
evaporator and reduced fuel re- heat transfer. As more effects are
quirements in the recovery furnace 1979. The four-effect unit will con-
sume approximately 0.31 Ib of added or as mechanical vapor re-
was approximately 2.8 million gal- compression units aleestudied, L I I ~
lons as compared with the four- steam per pound ot water evapo-
rated as compared with 0.43 Ib of units become larger and more ex-
effect evaporator.
steam per pound of water evapo- pensive because of the lower At's
Mechanical vapor recompression for heat transfer.
systems have been limited t o a few rated for the standard triple-effect
unit. The evaporation rate for this lmmediately after the escalation
installations in Western Germany. of fuel prices in 1973, many up-
Since most plants are employing system is 214,000 Iblhr. The new
four-effect unit will save approxi- grading projects were completed in
back-pressure turbines to generate
mately 210 million pounds of steam the food industry. At this time, the
electricity, evaporators are used as
annually compared with the con- industry is changing t o centralized
the heat sink for the exhaust steam.
ventional three-effect systems a t processing where larger and highly
Therefore, the potential for me-
the same capacity. Four-effect energy-efficient evaporators can be
chanical vapor recompression sys-
evaporators probably will become economically justified. Because the
tems may be limited. Six-effect
the new standard caustic evapora- capacity of these new evaporators is
evaporators and mechanical vapor
tors after derriur~strativrlof the sys- much larger, the ratio of capacity t o
recompression units have been in-
tem. Figure 17 shows the energy investment cost is reduced. In addi-
stalled in the United States and
savings attributable t o four-effect tion, these larger food processing
Canada. Future trends in the de-
caustic evaporators over a range of plants will be in a much better posi-
sign of evaporators would appear
capacities. tion t o install back-pressureturbines
t o be the same for domestic and
foreign pulp and paper companies. In the opinion of European evap- with generators t o produce electric-
orator suppliers, the addition of ity and t o use the exhaust steam for
effects in new systems t o increase the evaporators.
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY The dairy industry i s one of the
evaporator energy efficiency and
The upgrading of chemical evap- the use of waste heat for chemical major food processing industries that
orators has been limited because evaporation will become economic i s similar in Europe and in the United
the units are specially designed for necessities because of the rise in States. Such industries as sugar and
each application. The physical prop- energy"6osts and restrictions on fruit juice processors operate a t
erties of such chemicals as inorganic energy use. In addition, industry is lower capacities or have evaporators
salts, acids, and caustic reduce the increasingly interested in systems that are similar in design t o those in
prospects for upgrading existing using mechanical vapor recompres- the United States or were purchased
evaporators. Expensive construction sion evaporators to preconcentrate from U.S. manufacturers. For these
materials are necessary t o prevent dilute feeds before they enter rcasons, cclsc histories of systems in
corrosion or contamination of the existing multieffect evaporators t o the dairy industry will be high-
products. Evaporative crystallizers increase capacities without requiring lighted.
require specific residence times and additional fuel consumption a t the The dairy industry has undergone
flow rates and crystal discharge sys- plant site. Because many U.S. sup- a significant change in evaporation
tems. High boiling-point rises are pliers of chemical evaporators are technology since the early 1970s be-
typical of many chemicals, which active in Europe, similar technolo- cause of higher fuel costs and fuel
limits the A t available for design of gies and energy-conservation supply limitations. Technological
multieffect evaporators as well as methods will be practiced in the advance has kept pace with the in-
mechanical vapor recompression United States. dustry's needs for highly efficient
systems. The combination of these evaporators. Before 1970 the stan-
factors would greatly increase the dard evaporator in the dairy industry
size and investment costs for adding
Fig. 17 Energy savings realized from con-
verting a three-effect caustic evaporator
to a four-effect evaporator
405
0
0
0.43 I blsteam ?
360

L I Four-effect efficiency = 0.32 IbIsteam

,Ib water evaporated I 4
t
5 70k
m
Feed concentration = 12% NaOH
Product concentration = 50% NaOH
4315 2
z
$
.-
>
60-
m
w

5 50-
V) m
V)

.-C>
m
"3

V)

>

300 350 400 450 500 550 600 2

Evaporator rate,' 1o3 Iblhr

had three effects. These evaporators economy ratio of 0.26 Ib of steam Another upgrading project was
consumed steam a t a rate of 0.22 to per pound of water evaporated. In completed for the dairy plant of
0.26 Ib of steam per pound of water 1976, the unit was upgraded to in- Zuivelfabrik I nza in Schoten-
evaporated. All those units were crease capacity and to reduce energy Antwerp, Belgium. A triple-effect
equipped with thermocompressors, use per pound of product being skim milk evaporator was installed.
feed,preheaters, and condensate concentrated. The modifications in- in 1968. This unit had an evapora-
heat-recovery systems. Therefore, the cluded a new effect to convert to a tive capacity of 41,800 Iblhr and
the ypgrading projects during recent four-effect evaporator and a thermo- concentrated the feed from 9% total
years usually involved the addition compressor, which compresses the solids to 48% total solids~using
of one effect or the combination of vapor across the first and second ef- 10,000 Iblhr steam. The system also
two evaporators into one system fects. The approximate installed cost include$ a thermocompressor, feed
that would increase capacity and was $240,000. The evaporative ca- pret~ealers,and corrdensate flash .
reduce the total energy usage for pacity became 42,500 Iblhr and the tanks. The unit was upgraded in
evaporation. steam rate only increased to 7500 1977 to a five-effect unit using the
After 1973, many of the three- Iblhr. The steam economy ratio is original three-effect unit plus
effect evaporators were upgraded to 0.1 76 Ib of steam per pound of another used three-effect evapora-
four-effect units. The trend between water evaporated. The steam costs tor. The unit was upgraded to in-
1973 and 1976 usually was to replace were $4.50 per 1000 pounds in crease capacity; however, the steam
two or more of the three-effects units 1976; therefore, the dollar savings consumption had to remain con-
with new five-effect systems. a t the expanded capacity based on stant. The five-effect evaporator
For example, a three-effect a 6000-hr operating period were operates with an evaporative ca-
whey evaporator y i t h a, thermo- $96,000 for the fou r-effect evapo- pacity of 56,000 Iblhr and requires
compressor across the first effect rator as compared "with a three- 10,400 Iblhr steam. The steam
was installed by Neerlandia in effect evaporator operating a t the economy ratio was reduced from
Stornpetoren, Holland, in 1961. same capacity. 0.24 to 0.1 8 Ib of steam per pound
The evaporative capacity of the of water evaporated and the ca-
unit was 19,500 Iblhr. Whey was pacity ~ncreasedby 34%. I he total
concentrated from 5% total solids dollar savings, on the basis of steam
to 48% total solids using approxi- costs of $4.5011 000 Ib and an oper-
mately 5000 Iblhr steam for a steam ating time of 6000 hr, were $76,000:
25
0
Fig. 1 8 Schematic diagram of a six-effect A Feed (68,200 Iblhr at 5.3 wt. %) C Product (8032 Iblhr at 45 wt. %)
whey and skim milk evaporator. B Steam (7760 Iblhr) D Vapors to vacuum raising equipment

l n 1977 the first six-effect One of the first systems using a because of the costs of energy and
evaparators, similar to the one six-effect evaporator was installed the pending government r~strictinnq
shown in Fig. 18, were installed a t the Sud-Lait plant located in on the use of electricity and fuel oil
by the dairy industry to concen- Recogne, Belgium, in 1977. This (Bunker C).The overall steam econ-
trate skim milk and whey. The evaporator is used to concentrate omy for the six-effect plant is
quality of the products have whey or skim milk before spray 0.1 23 Ib of steam per pound of
proven t o be the same as that of drying. Skim milk i s concentrated water evaporated. The system in-
the products previously concen- from 8.3% to 52% total solids in cludes thermocompressors and con-
trated in a three-effect unit. The the evaporator. The feed rate is densate heat-recovery systems. The
evaporators for many of the plants 125,000 Iblhr, and the evaporative condensate from the first and second
were designed t o operate with steam capacity is 104,000 Iblhr. Sud-Lait effects i s continuously monitored,
from a boiler or a back-pressure shut down three other evaporators and, if the quality i s good, a fraction
turbine. and replaced those three- and four- of the condensate is returned to the
effect units with the six-effect unit
1-2 Thermocompressors across 3 Feed preheater 11-16 Internal prehe>ting coils
first and second effects 4-10 Vapar/liquid separators

boiler. The remaining condensate, Another six-effect unit was in- of water evaporated. The total
plus any poor quality condensate, stalled in 1977 a t the DePrinfes hourly steam savings are 1200 Iblhr,
is fed to the air preheater of the plant in Lirsem, Holland. The evap- for an annual savings of $194,000
spray dryer, where the air is pre- orative capacity i s 60,000 Iblhr. based on 6000 hr of operation.
heated from 77 t o 122°F. Using the Whey is concentrated from 5.3% Figure 19 shows the energy rates
condensate in the air prebeater re- total solids to 45% total solids. The for multiple-effect evaporators in
duced the dryer steam requirements steam consumption is 7800 Iblhr the dairy industry. The energy rates
by 15%. This plant i s operated con- for a steam economy ratio of are based on the requirements for
tinuously for 22 hr with an addi- 0.1 30 Ib of steam per hour. This skim milk and whey evaporator,s,
tional 2 hr for cleaning. No operating plant also includes thermocompres- but any food product that has a
problems have occurred, and the sors, condensate heat recovery, and negligible boiling point rise, such as
quality of the whey and skim milk feed preheaters. The evaporator re- fruit juices and sugar (six-effect
is equivalent to that of the product placed a three-effect evaporator that evaporators have been demon-
previously produced in the four- required 0.25 Ib of steam per pound strated), would be able t o achieve
effect evaporators. similar steam rates.

27
 The designs of future evaporator effect evaporators, and six- or pressure turbines t o generate elec-
installations in the food industry seven-effect evaporators. The selec- tricity. Similar trends are also
will have combinations of mechani- tion of evaporator design will de- evident in the United States. How-
cal recompression evaporators, pend primarily on the balance be- ever, the potential for upgrading
mechanical recompression precon- tween electricity and steam demand present systems by using heat-
centration evaporators followed by because many food processors will recovery systems appears to con-
multieffect units, reverse osmosis install diesel engines or back- tinue t o offer significant cost
preconcentrators followed by multi- benefits by reducing steam rates.

Fig. 19. Energy rates for multiple-effect

evaporators in the dairy industry

-
--- Three effects
25
....
--
Four effects
Flve effects
SIX effects
(Eash unlt equ~ppedwlth

o3 Iblhr
Evaporation rate, 1
 Other Publicationsof Interest

Evaporation: A Prime Target for The Coating Industry: Energy Savings Computer Technology:Its Potential
Industrial Energy Conseryation with Volatile Organic Compound for Industrial Energy Conservation
. Briefing report for executives and Emission Control Technology applications manual for plant
industrialmanagers examining the Technology applications m'anual for plant inanagers and engineers, highlighting pos-
potential for energy savings in evapora- engineers and managers describing energy- sible energy savings, economics, and
tion processes to pffset the high cost of conservation opportunities in the installa- evaluation of process-control computer .
energy. 24 pages, 8% by 11 inches. tion of solvent emission control systems, systems. 60 pages, 8% by 11 inches.
C0012870-1. Single copies available includes guides for calculating energy DOElCSl2123-T2. Available for $5.25
without charge from DOE Technical use, energy savings, and economics for from NTIS."
Information Center, P. 0 . Box 62, Oak specific applications. 112 pages, 8 % by
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Technology applications manual for the Industrial Energy Efficiency savings potential (both fuel and
process engineer describing steps and Technical briefing report for industrial dollars) of energy-conservation mea-
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and Emission Control incoil Coating measures in distillation, catalogs energy-
Technical briefing report for industrial saving options by amount of investment
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of the energy now lost in exhaust gases analyses. 52 pages, 8 % by 11 inches.
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