CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SERIES

EVAPORATION
Compilation of Lectures and Solved Problems

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EVAPORATION

EVAPORATION
A unit operation that involves the concentration of a solution consisting of a non-volatile solute
and a volatile solvent
It is conducted by vaporizing a portion of the solvent to produce a concentrated solution of thick
liquor.
It differs with other unit operations in such a way that:
1. Distillation: in evaporation vapor is usually a single component
2. Drying: in evaporation, residue is liquid, sometimes a highly viscous one
3. Crystallization: focus is on concentrating a solution rather than forming crystals
Calculations for the Different Methods of Operations of Evaporators:
1. Single Effect Evaporators used when the required capacity of operation is relatively small
and/or cost of steam is relatively cheap compared to the evaporator cost.
where:

F , V , P , -S Mass flow rates of feed,

h F , hP

HV

vapor, and steam

respectively
Temperatures of feed,
product and vapor,
respectively
Liquid enthalpy of feed
and product, respectively
Vapor enthalpy

TI

Operating temperature

PI

Operating pressure

xF , xP

Mass fraction of solute in

feed and product
respectively

T F , T P ,T-V

Over-all Material Balance:

F=P+V

Solute Balance:

x F F=x P P

Enthalpy Balance:

h F F+ S S=hP P+H V V

Heat Balance:

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EVAPORATION

q steam =qliquor
q steam =S S
qliquor =F C P , F ( T I T F ) +V V
V

must be evaluated at

If vacuum pressure is given,

TV

or

PV

PV =P atmP vac

2. Forward Feed Multiple Effect Evaporators fresh feed is added to the first effect and flows
to the next in the same direction as the vapor flow. This is used when the feed is hot or when
the final concentrated product might be damaged at high temperatures

3. Backward Feed Multiple Effect Evaporators fresh feed enters the last and coldest effect
and continues until the concentrated product leaves the first effect. This is used when the
fresh feed is cold. This type of evaporation would requires liquid pump for each effect since
flow is from low to high pressure

4. Mixed Feed Multiple Effect Evaporators fresh feed enters any of the available effects and
continues not necessarily to the effect next to it.
5. Parallel Feed Multiple Effect Evaporators involves the adding of fresh feed and the
withdrawal of concentrated product from each effect. The vapor from each effect is still used
to heat the next effect. This method is used mainly when the feed is almost saturated and
solid crystals are the product, as in the evaporation of brine to make salt.

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EVAPORATION

Performance Evaluation of Steam-Heated Evaporators

1. Capacity number of kilograms of water vaporized per hour
Evaporator Capacity
Where:

q=UA T

Rate of heat transfer through the heating

surface of an evaporator
Over-all heat transfer coefficient

Heat transfer surface area

T -

Over-all temperature drop

T =T S T I

2. Steam Economy number of kilograms vaporized per kilogram of steam fed to the unit

Boiling point Evaluation (BPE) of a solution is the increase in boiling point over that of water
1. Small for dilute solutions and organic colloids solution
2. Large enough for concentrated solutions of inorganic salts; BPE can be estimated using
Figure 11-124 (CHE HB 8th edition)

Dhrings Rule the boiling point of a given solution is a linear function of the boiling point of
pure water at the same pressure. Figure 16.3 (Unit Operations 7 th edition by McCabe and
Smith)
For solutions with BPE:

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EVAPORATION

T V =T I BPE
H V =H V ,satd +C P , v ( BPE )
T all =T S T V 3 BPE