Dr. Senthilmurugan S.

Department of Chemical Engineering IIT Guwahati - CL204 - Part 21

Evaporation
Evaporators and its design concepts

Content of Lectures

5/12/16 | Slide 2

Evaporation
Types of evaporators
Factors affecting evaporation
Energy Balance for Single effect and multiple effect
evaporators
Mathematical problems on evaporation

Terminology
Evaporation process by which
liquid water passes directly to the
vapor phase
Transpiration - process by which
liquid water passes from liquid to
vapor through plant metabolism
Sublimation - process by which
water passes directly from the
solid phase to the vapor phase

5/12/16 | Slide 3

Evaporation

Suppose that we have a dilute solution of a

solute (say, sugar) dissolved in a solvent
(say, water)
We need to remove part of the solvent
(water) to produce a concentrated solution
This can be achieved by heating the
solution so as to evaporate the solvent
(water)
This process is known as evaporation.
The industrial equipment used for this
purpose in known as an evaporator.
In process industry: The thick liquor is the
valuable product and the vapour is
condensed and discarded
Water industry: concentrated sea water
discarded and vapour is condensed used
as product water

5/12/16 | Slide 4

Types of Evaporator

Open kettle or pan evaporator

Horizontal-tube evaporator
Vertical-type short-tube evaporator
Long-tube vertical evaporators
Upward flow (climbing-film)
Downward flow (falling-film)
Forced circulation
Agitated-film evaporators
Mechanical movement
Ultrasonic agitation

5/12/16 | Slide 5

Single effect evaporators

Multiple effect evaporators
Forward feed
Backward feed
Mixed feed
Parallel feed
Thermal distillation evaporators
Multi Stage Flash (MSF)/ Single
Effect Distillation (SED)
Multi Effect Distillation (MED)
Vapour Compression (VC)
Thermal
Mechanical

Types of evaporators
Open kettle or pan evaporator:

Pan

Pressure gauge
Steam

Boiler

Jacket

- simplest form of evaporators

- inexpensive
- simple to operate
- very poor heat economy
- in some cases paddles and scrapers
for agitation are used
5/12/16 | Slide 6

Condensate

Concentrate

Types of evaporators
Horizontal-tube evaporator

relatively cheap
used for nonviscous liquids
having high heattransfer coefficients
and liquids that do
not deposit scales
poor liquid
circulation (and
therefore unsuitable
for viscous liquids)

Vapor

Dilute feed
Steam
inlet

Condensate

Concentrated
product

5/12/16 | Slide 7

Types of evaporators
Vertical - tube evaporator:

Liquid is inside the tubes

Steam condenses outside the tubes
Used for non-viscous liquids having high
heat-transfer coefficients and liquids that
do not deposit scales
Vapor

Dilute feed
Steam
inlet

Condensate

5/12/16 | Slide 8

Concentrated
product

Types of evaporators
Climbing-film long-tube vertical evaporator

Falling film long-tube vertical evaporator

9
5/12/16 | Slide 9

Types of evaporators
Forced-circulation evaporator with separate twopass horizontal ,beating element

5/12/16 | Slide 10

Agitated film evaporator

Types of evaporator
Triple-effect evaporator

5/12/16 | Slide 11

Types of evaporator
With respect to feed flow direction

5/12/16 | Slide 12

Multi Stage Flash (MSF)/Single Effect Distillation (SED)

Flow diagram

Steam is used to heat tubes of saline water

Heated water flows into stages that are at lower pressure
Water boils rapidly and flashes into steam
Different types of MSF technology available with respect to internal
configuration and flow direction

e:
g
llen gy
a
Ch olo
hn
c
te

5/12/16 | Slide 13

rgy
e
En

nt
e
i
ic
eff

on
i
t
ora
p
a
ev

MSF desalting
Major units

Brine heater
To boil incoming seawater to its boiling point
Flashing chamber
Water and vapor separation
Condensing chamber
Condensation of vapor to water
Ejector
Remove non-condensable gases
Sea water pump
To pump pretreated sea water to flash
champers
Brine pump
To pump brine from flashing chamber
Condensate pump
To pump condensate from brine heater
Product pump
To pump product water from flashing unit

5/12/16 | Slide 14

Brine Heater

Desuperheater

MSF Stages

Brine Blowdown

Distillate

Brine Blowdown Pump

Brine Recirculation Valve

5% 1% 2% 11%
8%
19%
54%

Multi Effect Distillation

Overview

The Brine is heated in multiple effect and multiple

stages
Based on operating temp high and Low
Based on heating arrangement
Vertical tube evaporator
Horizontal tube evaporator
Based on compression
MED with Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC)
MED with Thermal Vapor Compression (MEDTVC)

MED-Horizontal tubes

MED-MVC
MED-TVC

5/12/16 | Slide 15

Multi Effect Distillation

Horizontal evaporators

5/12/16 | Slide 16

Multi Effect Distillation

With vertical evaporators

5/12/16 | Slide 17

Multi Effect Distillation

With thermal vapor compression

5/12/16 | Slide 18

Vapor compression
Technology overview

Technology is similar to MSF and MED

VC processes expose influent water in a tube to a vacuum that causes the water to
boil. The resulting vapor is transferred to another tube, where it is compressed back
into liquid water.

5/12/16 | Slide 19

Thermal desalination
Comparison

Source @ 2009 Lux Research report to ABB

5/12/16 | Slide 20

Factors effecting evaporation: (1/1)

Concentration in the liquid:

Liquid feed to an evaporator is relatively dilute.
So its viscosity is low, and heat-transfer coefficient high.
As evaporation proceeds, the solution becomes concentrated.
So viscosity increases and heat-transfer coefficient drops.
Density and the boiling point of solution also increase.
Solubility:
As solution is heated, concentration of the solute in the solution increases.
In case the solubility limit of the solute in solution is exceeded, then crystals
may form.
Solubility of the solute therefore determines the maximum concentration of the
solute in the product stream.
In most cases, the solubility of the solute increases with temperature. This
means when a hot concentrated solution from an evaporator is cooled to room
temperature, crystallization may occur.

5/12/16 | Slide 21

Factors effecting evaporation: (2/4)

The vapor pressure of aqueous

solutions is less than that of water at
the same temperature. Consequently,
for a given pressure the boiling point of
the solutions is higher than that of pure
water. The increase in boiling point
over that of water is known as the
boiling-point elevation (BPE) of the
solution.
Duhring's rule: The boiling point of a
given solution is a linear function of the
boiling point of pure water at the same
pressure

5/12/16 | Slide 22

Factors effecting evaporation: (3/4)

Pressure and temperature:

The boiling point of the solution is
related to the pressure of the system.
The higher the operating pressure of
the evaporator, the higher the
temperature at boiling.
Also, as the concentration of the
dissolved material in solution increases
by evaporation, the temperature of
boiling may rise (a phenomenon known
as boiling point rise/elevation).
To keep the temperatures low in heatsensitive materials, it is often necessary
to operate under atmospheric pressure
(that is, under vacuum).
Effect of liquid head and friction

5/12/16 | Slide 23

High velocity due to

boiling and bubble
rise

Factors effecting evaporation: (4/4)

Temperature sensitivity of materials:

Pharmaceuticals products, fine chemicals and foods are damaged when heated to
moderate temperatures for relatively short times.
So special techniques are employed to reduce temperature of the liquid and time of heating
during evaporation
Scale deposition:
Some solutions deposit solid materials (called scale) on the heating surfaces.
The result is that the overall heat-transfer coefficient (U) may drastically decrease, leading to
shut down of the evaporators for cleaning purposes.
Materials of construction:
Evaporators are made of some kind of steel.
However many solutions attack ferrous metals and are contaminated by them.
Copper, nickel, stainless steels can also be used.
Foaming and frothing:
Solutions like organic compounds tend to foam and froth during vaporization.
The foam is carried away along with vapour leaving the evaporator.
Entrainment losses occur.

5/12/16 | Slide 24

Method of operation of evaporators

Single-effect evaporation:
When a single evaporator is used ,the vapor from the boiling liquid is
condensed and discarded. This is called single effect evaporation.
It is simple but utilizes steam ineffectively.
To evaporate 1 kg of water from the solution we require 1-1.3 kg of steam.
Multiple-effect evaporation:
Increasing the evaporation per kg of steam by using a series of evaporators
between the steam supply and condenser is called multiple effect evaporation
Economy: Economy is the number of kilograms vaporized per kilogram of steam fed
to the evaporator unit.
Capacity: Capacity is defined as the number of kilograms of water vaporized per
hour by evaporator 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 = capacity / economy.

5/12/16 | Slide 25

Heat transfer coefficient

For evaporators

The overall resistance to heat transfer between the steam and the boiling liquid is
the sum of five individual resistances: (i) the steam-film resistance; the two scale
resistances, (ii) inside and (iii) outside the tubes; (iv) the tube-wall resistance; and
(v) the resistance from the boiling liquid.
In most evaporators the fouling factor of the condensing steam and the resistance of
the tube wall are very small, and they are usually neglected in evaporator
calculations. In an agitated-film evaporator the tube wall is fairly thick, so that its
resistance may be a significant part of the to total

1
1
1 d o xw d o 1 d o 1

U o ho h fo d L k di hi di h fi
1 d i 1 d i 1 d i xw 1 1

U i d 0 ho d 0 h fo d L k w hi h f i
5/12/16 | Slide 26

Heat transfer coefficient

For evaporators

Steam side coefficients:

Film wise (refer condensation chapter)
Drop wise (refer condensation chapter)
Liquid side coefficient:
The liquid-side coefficient depends to a large extent on the velocity of the liquid
over the heated surface.
In natural-circulation evaporators the liquid-side coefficient for dilute aqueous
solutions is between 1500 and 3000 W/m 2 C
Forced circulation one has use appropriate correlation discussed pervious chapters
The Colburn equation for forced circulation viscus flow,
Dittus Boelter equation
Overall coefficient:
Because of the difficulty of measuring the high individual film coefficients in an
evaporator, experimental results are usually expressed in terms of overall
coefficients.

5/12/16 | Slide 27

Typical overall coefficients in evaporators

5/12/16 | Slide 28

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Vapor, V
yV, T1, HV

Feed:
F mass flow rate
xF mass fraction of solute in feed
TF temperature of feed
hF enthalpy of feed

Feed, F
xF, TF, hF
Steam, S
PS, TS, HS

T1
Condensate, S
PS, TS, hS

Concentrate, L
xL, T1, hL

5/12/16 | Slide 29

Steam:
S mass flow rate
PS steam pressure
TS steam temperature
HS enthalpy of steam
h enthalpy of condensate

Vapor leaving the evaporator:

V mass flow rate
yV mass fraction of solute in vapor
T1 temperature of vapor
HV enthalpy of vapor

Concentrate leaving the evaporator:

L mass flow rate
xL mass fraction of solute in concentrate
T1 temperature of concentrate
hL enthalpy of concentrate
P pressure in the evaporator
T1 temperature in the evaporator

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Overall material balance:
F=L+V

Vapor, V
yV, T1, HV

Feed, F
xF, TF, hF
Steam, S
PS, TS, HS

Solute balance:
F x F = L x L + V yV

If the vapor is free of solute:

F xF = L x L

T1
Condensate, S
PS, TS, hS

Concentrate, L
xL, T1, hL

Heat balance:
F h F + S H S = L h L + V H V + S hS
Rewriting:
F hF + S (HS - hS) = L hL + V HV
F h F + S = L h L + V HV
where = HS - hS

5/12/16 | Slide 30

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Vapor, V
yV, T1, HV

Feed, F
xF, TF, hF
Steam, S
PS, TS, HS

Energy lost by the steam

q = S = S (HS hS)

T1
Condensate, S
PS, TS, hS

Concentrate, L
xL, T1, hL

5/12/16 | Slide 31

In case of no energy loss to the

environment, q amount of energy
gets transferred from steam to the
solution through the tube wall of
area A and overall heat transfer
coefficient U.
Therefore,
q = U A T = U A (TS T1)

Enthalpy Vs concentration diagram,

System sodium hydroxide-water

5/12/16 | Slide 32

Single Effect Evaporator

Example 1:
A continuous single-effect evaporator
concentrates 9072 kg/h of a 1.0 wt % salt
solution entering at 38C to a final
concentration of 1.5 wt %.

9072 kg/h
1 wt%
38 C

1.0 atm abs

The vapor space of the evaporator is at

101.325 kPa (1.0 atm abs) and the steam
supplied is saturated at 150 kPa. The
overall coefficient U = 1704 W/m2.K.
Calculate the amounts of vapor and liquid
products and the heat-transfer area
required. Assumed that, since it its dilute,
the solution has the same boiling point as
water.

5/12/16 | Slide 33

150 kPa

1.5 wt%

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Vapor, V
yV, T1, HV

Data provided:
F = 9072 kg/h

Feed, F
xF, TF, hF
Steam, S
PS, TS, HS

xF = 1 wt % = 0.01 kg solute / kg feed

TF = 38C
xL = 1.5 wt %

T1
Condensate, S
PS, TS, hS

= 0.015 kg solute / kg liquid product

P = 101.325 kPa (1.0 atm abs)
PS = 150 kPa

Concentrate, L
xL, T1, hL

U = 1704 W/m2.K

T1 = saturated temperature at P (= 101.325 kPa) = 100C

TS = saturated temperature at 150 kPa = 111.4C
5/12/16 | Slide 34

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Data provided:
F = 9072 kg/h
xF = 0.01 kg solute / kg feed
TF = 38C
xL = 0.015 kg solute / kg liquid product
P = 101.325 kPa; T1 = 100C
PS = 150 kPa; TS = 111.4C
U = 1704 W/m .K
2

Available equations:
Overall material balance:
F=L+V
Solute balance:
F xF = L xL (no solute in the vapor)
Heat balance:
F h F + S = L hL + V H V
where = HS hS
q = S = U A T = U A (TS T1)

Amounts of vapor and liquid products = ?

F, xF and xL are known, and therefore
L = 6048 kg/h and V = 3024 kg/h
5/12/16 | Slide 35

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Available equations:

Data known:
F = 9072 kg/h; L = 6048 kg/h, V = 3024 kg/h
TF = 38C

Heat balance:
F hF + S = L h L + V H V

P = 101.325 kPa; T1 = 100C

where = HS hS

PS = 150 kPa; TS = 111.4C

q = S = U A T = U A (TS T1)

U = 1704 W/m2.K

Heat transfer area A = S / U (TS T1) = ?

S = L hL + V H V F h F
= (F V) hL + V HV F hF
= F (hL hF) + V (HV hL )
= F Cp (T1 - TF) + V (Latent heat of vapourization at 101.325 kPa )
5/12/16 | Slide 36

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Data known:
F = 9072 kg/h; L = 6048 kg/h, V = 3024 kg/h
TF = 38C
P = 101.325 kPa; T1 = 100C
PS = 150 kPa; TS = 111.4C
U = 1704 W/m2.K

Heat transfer area A = S / U (TS T1) = ?

S = F Cp (T1 - TF) + V (Latent heat of vapourization at 101.325 kPa)
F, T1 , TF and V are already known.
Cp = 4.14 kJ/kg.K (assumed)
Latent heat of vapourization at 101.325 kPa = 2256.7 kJ/kg
Therefore,
S = (9072) (4.14) (100 38) +(3024) (2256.7) kJ/h
= 9152862 kJ/h
5/12/16 | Slide 37

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Data known:
F = 9072 kg/h; L = 6048 kg/h, V = 3024 kg/h
TF = 38C
P = 101.325 kPa; T1 = 100C
PS = 150 kPa; TS = 111.4C
U = 1704 W/m2.K
Heat transfer area A = S / U (TS T1) = ?
S = 9152862 kJ/h = 9152862 * 1000 / 3600 W
T1 and TS are known
U = 1704 W/m2.K
Therefore,
A = S / U (TS T1)
= [9152862 * 1000 / 3600] / [1704 * (111.4 100)]
= 130. 9 m2
5/12/16 | Slide 38

Effects of processing variables on evaporator operation

Effect of feed temperature:

The inlet temperature of the feed has a large effect on the evaporator operation.
When feed is not at its boiling point, steam is needed first to heat the feed to its boiling post and then
to evaporate it.
Preheating the feed can reduce the size of evaporator heat-transfer area.
Effect of steam pressure:
High pressure provides high Ts values, and hence TS T1 will increase.
High pressure steam is however more costly.
Therefore, overall economic balances must be considered to determine the optimum steam pressure.
Effect of feed pressure:
Pressure in the evaporator sets the boiling point of the solution (T1).
Steam pressure determines the steam temperature (Ts)
Since q = U A (TS T1), larger values of (TS T1) will help reduce the heat-transfer area needed and
hence the cost of evaporator.
Vacuum can be maintained in the solution side using a vacuum pump.
For example, if the pressure in Example 1 is reduced to 41.4 kPa, boiling point of water reduces to
349.9 K and that would increase the (TS T1) from 10 K to 33.3 K. A large decrease in heat-transfer
area would be obtained.

5/12/16 | Slide 39

Example 2:
An evaporator is used to concentrate 4536 kg/h of a 20% NaOH
solution entering at 60C to a product of 50% solids. The pressure
of the saturated steam used is 170 kPa and the vapor space pressure
of the evaporator is at 12 kPa. The overall coefficient U is 1560
W/m2.K.
Calculate the steam used, the steam economy (in kg vapourized / kg
steam used) and the heating surface area.

5/12/16 | Slide 40

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Vapor, V
yV, T1, HV

Data provided:
F = 4536 kg/h

Feed, F
xF, TF, hF
Steam, S
PS, TS, HS

xF = 20 wt % = 0.2 kg solute / kg feed

TF = 60C
xL = 50 wt %

T1
Condensate, S
PS, TS, hS

= 0.5 kg solute / kg liquid product

P = 12 kPa = 0.12 bar
PS = 170 kPa = 1.7 bar

Concentrate, L
xL, T1, hL

U = 1560 W/m2.K

T1 saturated temperature at P (= 0.12 bar) = 49.4oC

TS = saturated steam temperature at 1.7 bar = 115.2oC
5/12/16 | Slide 41

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Amounts of vapor and liquid products = ?
F, xF and xL are known, and therefore L = 1814 kg/h and V = 2722 kg/h

Steam used = ?
S = L hL + V H V - F h F
hF = enthalpy of 20% solution at 60oC = 214 kJ/kg
(using the enthalpyconcentration chart)
hL = enthalpy of 50% solution at T1 = ?
(using the enthalpyconcentration and boiling-point rise charts)
Saturated temperature at P (= 0.12 bar) = 49.4oC
Using the boiling-point rise chart, we get 89.5oC ( read against 49.4oC and 50 wt%) as the
boiling point of the solution. That is T1 = 89.5oC

hL = enthalpy of 50% solution at 89.5oC = 505 kJ/kg

(using the enthalpyconcentration chart)
HV = enthalpy of superheated steam at 89.5oC and 0.12 bar = 2667 kJ/kg
(using the superheated steam table)
5/12/16 | Slide 42

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Amounts of vapor and liquid products = ?
F, xF and xL are known, and therefore L = 1814 kg/h and V = 2722 kg/h
Steam used = S = ?
S = 1814 x 505 + 2722 x 2667 4536 x 214 = 7204940 kJ/h
= latent heat of vapourization of water at 1.7 bar and 115.2oC
= 2216 kJ/kg
(using the steam table)
Therefore S = 7204940 / 2216 kg/h = 3251 kg/h
Steam economy = kg vapourized / kg steam used = V / S = ?
Steam economy = 2722 / 3251 = 0.837
A = S / U (TS T1) = [7204940 * 1000 / 3600] / [1560 * (115.2 89.5)]
= 49. 9 m2

5/12/16 | Slide 43

Example 3 (Repeat Example 2 assuming that the thermal properties of the

liquid in the evaporator can be approximated by those of water):
An evaporator is used to concentrate 4536 kg/h of a 20% NaOH
solution entering at 60C to a product of 50% solids. The pressure
of the saturated steam used is 170 kPa and the vapor space pressure
of the evaporator is at 12 kPa. The overall coefficient U is 1560
W/m2.K.
Calculate the steam used, the steam economy (in kg vapourized / kg
steam used) and the heating surface area.

5/12/16 | Slide 44

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Vapor, V
yV, T1, HV

Data provided:
F = 4536 kg/h

Feed, F
xF, TF, hF
Steam, S
PS, TS, HS

xF = 20 wt % = 0.2 kg solute / kg feed

TF = 60C
xL = 50 wt %

T1
Condensate, S
PS, TS, hS

= 0.5 kg solute / kg liquid product

P = 12 kPa = 0.12 bar
PS = 170 kPa = 1.7 bar

Concentrate, L
xL, T1, hL

U = 1560 W/m2.K

T1 = saturated temperature at P (= 0.12 bar) = 49.4oC

TS = saturated steam temperature at 1.7 bar = 115.2oC
5/12/16 | Slide 45

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Amounts of vapor and liquid products = ?
F, xF and xL are known, and therefore L = 1814 kg/h and V = 2722 kg/h
Steam used = ?
S = L hL + V HV - F hF = (F V) hL + V HV F hF = F (hL hF) + V (HV hL )
= F Cp (T1 - TF) + V (Latent heat of vapourization at 0.12 bar)
= (4536) (4.14) (49.4 60) +(2722) (2383) kJ/h (Cp = 4.14 kJ/kg.K is assumed)
= 6301078 kJ/h
= latent heat of vapourization of water at 1.7 bar = 2216 kJ/kg
Therefore S = 6301078 / 2216 kg/h = 2843.5 kg/h
Steam economy = kg vapourized / kg steam used = V / S = ?
Steam economy = 2722 / 2843.5 = 0.957
A = S / U (TS T1) = [6301078 * 1000 / 3600] / [1560 * (115.2 49.4)]
= 17 m2
5/12/16 | Slide 46

Calculation methods for single-effect evaporators

Compare the solutions of Examples 2 and 3 and discuss the
importance of considering the boiling pint rise and enthalpy
change of concentrated solution.

5/12/16 | Slide 47

Double-effect evaporators

5/12/16 | Slide 48

Calculation methods for double-effect evaporators

If liquid is to be evaporated in each effect,
and if the boiling point of this liquid is unaffected by the solute concentration,
then writing a heat balance for the first evaporator:
q1 = U1 A1 T1 = U1 A1 (TS T1)
Similarly, in the second evaporator,
remembering that the "steam" in the second is the vapor from the first
evaporator
and that this will condense at approximately the same temperature as it boiled,
since pressure changes are small,
q2 = U2 A2 T2 = U2 A2 (T1 T2)
If the evaporators are working in balance, then all of the vapours from the
first effect are condensing and in their turn evaporating vapours in the
second effect. Also assuming that heat losses can be neglected, there is no
appreciable boiling-point elevation of the more concentrated solution, and
the feed is supplied at its boiling point,
q1 = q2
5/12/16 | Slide 49

Calculation methods for double-effect evaporators

If the evaporators are working in balance,
then all of the vapours from the first effect are condensing
and in their turn evaporating vapours in the second effect.
Also assuming that heat losses can be neglected,
there is no appreciable boiling-point elevation of the more concentrated solution,
and the feed is supplied at its boiling point,
q1 = q2
That is, U1 A1 T1 = U2 A2 T2
Further, if the evaporators are so constructed that A1 = A2,
the foregoing equations can be combined.

U2 / U1 = T1 / T2
That is, the temperature differences are inversely proportional to the overall heat
transfer coefficients in the two effects.
This analysis may be extended to any number of effects operated in series, in the same way.
5/12/16 | Slide 50

Effect of boiling-point elevation

For triple effect evaporators
Ttotal
=UtAtotalTtotal

209C

281C

252C
261C
226C

5/12/16 | Slide 51

176C

105

85

79

A triple-effect evaporator
Calculation methods

Energy Balance equations for triple

effect evaporator
(1) the rate of steam flow to the first
effect,
(2) to (4) the rate of flow from each
effect,
(5) the boiling temperature in the first
effect,
(6) the boiling temperature in the second
effect, and
(7) the heating surface per effect.
It is possible to solve these equations
for the seven unknowns

5/12/16 | Slide 52

Assume values for the boiling

temperatures in the first and second
effects.
From enthalpy balances find the rates of
steam flow and of liquor from effect to
effect.
Calculate the heating surface needed in
each effect from the capacity equations.
If the heating areas so found are not
nearly equal, estimate new values for
the boiling temperatures and repeat
items 2 and 3 until the heating surfaces
are equal.

Example 4:
Estimate the requirements of steam and heat transfer surface, and the evaporating
temperatures in each effect, for a triple effect evaporator evaporating 500 kg h -1
of a 10% solution up to a 30% solution.
Steam is available at 200 kPa gauge and the pressure in the evaporation space in
the final effect is 60 kPa absolute. Assume that the overall heat transfer
coefficients are 2270, 2000 and 1420 J m-2 s-1 C-1 in the first, second and third
effects, respectively.
Neglect sensible heat effects and assume no boiling-point elevation, and assume
equal heat transfer in each effect.

5/12/16 | Slide 53

Solids Liquids
Mass balance (kg h-1)

Total

Feed

50

450

500

Product

50

117

167

Evaporation

333

From steam tables, the condensing temperature of

steam at 200 kPa (g) is 134C and the latent heat is
2164 kJ kg -1. Evaporating temperature in final effect
under pressure of 60 kPa (abs.) is 86C, as there is no
boiling-point rise and latent heat is 2294 kJ kg-1.
Equating the heat transfer in each effect:
so that T1(1 + U1/U2 + U1/U3) = 48,

q1 = q2 = q3
T1 x [1 + (2270/2000) + (2270/1420)] = 48
U1A1T1 = U2A2 T2 = U3A3T3
And T1 + T2 + T3 = (134 - 86) = 48C.
Now, if A1 = A2 = A3
then T2 = U1T1 /U2 and T3 = U1T1 /U3
5/12/16 | Slide 54

3.73 T1 = 48
T1 = 12.9C,
T2 = T1 x (2270/2000) = 14.6C
and T3 = T1 x (2270/1420) = 20.6C

And so the evaporating temperature:

in first effect is
(134 - 12.9) = 121C; latent heat (from Steam Tables) 2200 kJ kg -1.
in second effect is (121 - 14.6) = 106.5C; latent heat 2240 kJ kg -1
in the third effect is (106.5 - 20.6) = 86C, latent heat 2294 kJ kg-1
Equating the quantities evaporated in each effect and neglecting the sensible heat changes,
if w1, w2, w3 are the respective quantities evaporated in effects 1,2 and 3, and ws is the
quantity of steam condensed per hour in effect 1, then
w1 x 2200 x 103 = w2 x 2240 x 103
= w3 x 2294 x 103
= ws x 2164 x 103
The sum of the quantities evaporated in each effect must equal the total evaporated in all
three effects so that:
w1 + w2 + w3 = 333 and solving as above,
w1 = 113 kg h-1 w2 = 111kg h-1 w3 = 108kg h-1
ws = 115 kg h-1
Steam consumption
It required 115 kg steam (ws) to evaporate a total of 333 kg water, that is
0.35kg steam/kg water evaporated.
Heat exchanger surface.
Writing a heat balance on the first effect:
(113 x 2200 x 1000)/3600 = 2270 x A1 x 12.9
A1 = 2.4 m2 = A2 = A3
total area = A1 + A2 + A3 = 7.2 m2.
5/12/16 | Slide 55