Development of Plate Evaporator Technology, The Market Place and the

Choice for the Sugar Engineer.

Boris Morgenroth
Darren Jayatilaka, Gary Punter

Abstract

In recent years the Beet Sugar Industry has continued to drive down steam consumption and
increase factory capacities. Evaporator technology has been central to this progresion.

For the Sugar Engineer , there now exists a greater choice of applications, technologies and
suppliers within the market place. This paper aims to educate and explain the market place
and available options , with particular emphasis on Plate Evaporators, although not
exclusively.

Furthermore, real data and experiences are presented which explain the criteria for evaporator
selection: Thermal Performance; operability; juice quality; cost and risk. These criteria are
further explored to look at the vision for the ideal evaporators into the future.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. The Market Place for Evaporation

3. Plate Evaporators

4. The Choice of Evaporator Technology

5. Future Developments

6. Conclusion

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1 Introduction

For decades the Sugar Engineer has been restricted in choice to variations of Roberts or tube
bundle falling-film evaporators, the latter being introduced into the Sugar Industry during the
1960's.

In the last 10 years, the continued demand for reduction in steam demand and increase in
factory capacity has driven the development of plate evaporators, which now adds 2 more
dimensions to the choice presented to the Sugar Engineer: the rising-film plate and falling-
film plate evaporators (see Figure 1).

Tube Plate

Decrease of the effective temperature difference

Rising Film Evaporator

Robert

Falling Film Evaporator

Figure 1: Development of Technology versus temperature difference

Drawing from literature, research at the Berlin Sugar Institute (Austmeyer et al. 1995a,b;
Christoph et al. 1995; Morgenroth et al. 1995, 1996a,b,c) and recent experiences at British
Sugar, this paper presents an insight into the market place for sugar evaporators. It describes
the available plate technology, uses operating data to help in the selection of the appropriate
evaporator technology and concludes with an evaporator vision for the future.

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2 The Market Place for Evaporation

Before we look at the choices on offer to the Sugar Manufacturer, it is interesting to compile a
list of applications that have developed over recent years :

Complete new Multi-effect system

Complete new Single Effect
Complete retrofit Single effect (see Figure 2)
Parallel or split Stream
Booster for an existing evaporator in series (see Figure 3)
Booster for an existing evaporator in parallel
Standard Liquor Evaporator
Molasses desugarisation

This market place can be satisfied by different types of evaporators (rising film, falling film,
plate or tubular) , but each of these applications will have different requirements. The final
choice of evaporator solution will depend upon the following demanding criteria:

Thermal Performance (dT and k-value)

Operability
Juice Quality
Installed Costs
Risk to Capacity

The development of evaporators has made some steps towards satisfying these criteria over
the last 10 years.

In 1987, the first Alfa Laval plate evaporators were installed successfully in both German and
English sugar factories (i.e. Sudzucker AG and British Sugar plc) (Licha et al 1989 and
Punter and Christopherson 1992a,b). The subsequent growth has been driven by the need for
cost effective evaporation with particular success in the booster evaporator market.

To date approx. 250 plate evaporators from various manufacturers are either in operation or
are shortly going to be; with a total heating surface of about 150,000 m2. These range in size
from 300m2 up to the largest plate evaporator that exists worldwide some 6,000 m2 , a Balcke-
Duerr falling film plate evaporator, commissioned at the Dutch Groningen sugar factory
(Cooperatie Suiker Unie U.A) with great success (Morgenroth et al. 1995).

British Sugar is a good example of progressive investment in this market place. Table 1
shows the investments by supplier and technology since 1990. Of the total investment, 80%
of the area has been installed for capacity increase, with a significant 20% for cost reduction.

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SUPPLIER TYPE AREA EFFECTS APPLICATION
INSTALLED
Alfa Laval EC500 rising 7,523 m2 2,3,4,5,6 Complete Effect,
film plate 18 units Booster,
Std.Liquor Evap.

GEA CT193 rising 2,500 m2 3,4,5,6 Complete Effect,

film plate 5 units Booster

Balcke Duerr Hybrid falling 1,047 m2 5 Complete Effect

film plate 1 unit

Wiedemann falling film tube 47,500 m2 1,2,3,4,5,6 Complete Effect

8 units

TOTAL 58,570 m2

Table 1: Investment in evaporator technology since 1990 (British Sugar)

In the future, as factory capacities across Europe increase further, this trend is expected to
continue. Added to the above the potential for re-development in Eastern Europe and the
worldwide cane industry, then the scope for further investment is very large.

However the biggest challenge for the Sugar Engineer in any of the market places is to
justify the investment in the first place. This requires an understanding of the full
factory energy balance and fuel costs, which are beyond the scope of this paper.

The remainder of this paper discusses the technical and commercial considerations facing the
Sugar Engineer once the investment decision has been made. Also the future for the market
place is explored in section 5.

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 Vapour Outlet

Vapour
Juice Inlet

Heating
Steam

Condensate

LIC
4th Effect

Juice Outlet

Figure 2 : Complete Retrofit of a single effect with Falling Film Plate Packs (Cantley)

Vapour Outlet

Vapour

GEA CT193
Heating
Steam
Heating
Steam
Juice Inlet
Condensate

Juice Outlet

Figure 3: Plate Evaporator added in series as a Booster to an existing evaporator (York)

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3.0 Plate Evaporators

As seen in Figure 1 there are 2 different types of evaporator: rising-film and falling-film.

Rising film evaporators utilise thermal energy to both transport and concentrate the sugar
juice within the evaporator (Roberts, Alfa Laval, GEA). Falling film evaporator seperate these
functions. Transport is achieved through pumping (electrical instead of thermal energy) whilst
utilising the thermal energy to concentrate the juice.

Apart from these two principles, one may also differentiate between those that are of a closed
or open design, i.e. evaporators which have been integrated into a pressure vessel or such
evporators that possess an extra vessel for the separation of vapour from the solution.

3.1 Rising film plate evaporators

Figure 4 gives the exisisting differences between the plate manufactured by Messrs.
GEA Ecoflex and that originating from Messrs. Alfa Laval. Whilst the flow channels of the
GEA plate point straight upwards, those belonging to Alfa Laval display the typical fish bone
pattern known from plate heat exchangers.

Figure 4: Alfa Laval and GEA Ecoflex plates

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Figure 6 depicts the integration of a plate evaporator of the Alfa Laval type into a pressure
vessel. Here the vapour/juice channel was opened with the aid of a laser welding process
(Wersel 1990), whereby the pressure losses that occur in the flow channel may be
decreased. Figure 6 shows a plate evaporator, in which the separation of vapour from the juice
must ensue in an attached vessel. If small heating surfaces are involved, either an available
Robert or falling film evaporator may also be used for the separation procedure. As far
as the closed design is concerned, here one must assume that the durability of the plate seals
is much greater since they are exposed to only a slight differential pressure between juice
channel and vessel chamber and they are not restricted to oxygen (Wersel 1990). The
durability of the seals decreases as the temperature of the heating steam rises, especially when
coming into contact with oxygen and therefore represents a critical point concerning the
maintenance costs (see section 4.3).

Figure 5: Alfa Laval rising film evaporator with extra juice seperation

Figure 6: Alfa Laval rising film plate evaporator in a vessel design

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3.2 Falling film plate evaporator

Figure 7 shows the design of a falling film plate evaporator. The heating chamber may either
be welded completely or the individual modules can be fitted into the evaporator as
cupboard-like segments, that may be pulled out. Such designs have been implemented in
the Waghusel sugar factory (Licha et al. 1989) and Cantley Sugar Factory (British Sugar
1996).

Vapour outlet Vapour outlet

Vapour Vapour
Vapour

Juice inlet

Juice
Heating Steam Distrubution
A A
Heating steam
~4800
11700

Condensate
Venting
Condensate
~1600

Juice inlet Juice

Juice outlet Juice outlet
Distrubution Vapour duct
Shaping height

4200 mm
Stacking length

Heating Steam

A-A
Vapour duct

Figure 7: Balcke Duerr falling film plate evaporator

Where re-tubing of evaporators is required, plate packs of the falling film plate evaporator can
represent a cost effective alternative, especially from the aspect of capacity augmentation. In
replacing the tubes within a Roberts vessel, a falling plate evaporator can produce between 3
to 12 times the evaporative capacity for the same size vessel. This is because of its compact
construction and higher thermal performance.

The falling film plate evaporator can be regarded as a synthesis between plate and
tube-bundle falling film evaporator (hybrid construction).

A profiled element of the falling film plate evaporator (Figure 8 and Figure 9) is made of high
grade steel sheets that are shaped, reversed, superposed as well as welded at the edges of
the roller seams. The shaping height is variable and can amount up to 8000 mm. The single
profiled elements are tied one above the other and welded together at the front side by cross
seams. From the profile offered by the plate surface such tubules are obtained that are
not only almost elliptic at the juice side but also arranged in a vertical fashion to the
undulated flow channels on the steam side (cross-flow principle).
Technical Session 5C(i) 8
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 product side

steam flow path

Figure 8 : Flow pattern within a plate packet (product flowing into the page)

Figure 9 : Side view of the Balcke Duerr plate

The tubules are segmented in turn so that a horizontal liquid exchange is made possible within
the plate packet (Figure 9). The juice distrubution is also improved by the short overall
length (i.e. 32 cm) of the single modules and the new juice distrubution after every single
plate pack.

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3.3 Constructional features of different evaporator types

Below is a survey showing the constructional differences of various evaporator types that
are employed in the sugar industry (Table 2).

Table 2: Constructional features of different evaporator types

Falling Film Balcke-Duerr Alfa Laval GEA Ecoflex Robert
Tube FFPEx2 RFPEx3 RFPEx3
x1
FFTE

Tube length/plate height 8 - 15 m 0,32 m 2,0 m 2,2 m 2-4m

Height of heating 8 - 15 m 0,32 m/module 1,1 m 1,3 m 2-4m

chamber
2
Maximum heating < 8000 m < 8000 m2 < 1250 m2 < 1800 m2 < 2500 (6000)
surface m2
Plate width - optional 1m 1,2 m -

Channel sectional - - 50 cm2 82 cm2 -

area/module
2 2
Channel sectional 4 - 10 cm /m 50-80 cm2/m2 19 cm2/m2 27 cm2/m2 20 - 30 cm2/m2
area/heating surface *module
Juice flow number 8 - 16 l/(cm h) 0,6 - 1,0 l/(cm h) - - -

Juice wetting number - - 100 l/hr/channel tba -

2 2
Heating surface/plate - optional 2,64 m 3,0 m -

Heating surface density 40 - 50 m2/m3 240 m2/m3 2 3

90 m /m 88 m2/m3 40 - 50 m2/m3

Inner tube diameter/gap 27 -32,6 mm 6 or 9 mm 6 mm 7.5 mm 30 - 40 mm

between plates
Wall thickness 1,2 - 2 mm 0,6 or 0,8 mm 0,6 mm 0,8 mm 1,2 - 2,5 mm

Material carbon steel/ stainless steel stainless steel stainless steel carbon steel/
stainless steel stainless steel
Vapour connection optional optional DN 500 DN 600 optional

Steam connection optional optional DN 400 DN 500 optional

1 FFTE = Falling Film Tube Evaporator 2 FFPE = Falling Film Plate Evaporator
3 RFPE = Rising Film Plate Evaporator

The geometric dimensions of the heating chamber of the falling film plate evaporator can be
optimised concerning the juice flow number (l/cm*h) as well as for the geometric
measurements of the pressure vessel.. For the rising film plate evaporators, the plate
dimensions are fixed therefore changes in heating area can only be obtained by varying the
number of plates.

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Due to constructional and process stabilty reasons the rising film plate evaporators of
2
Messrs. Alfa Laval (Wersel 1995), attain heating surfaces of up to 1250 m and those of
2
Messrs. GEA Ecoflex (Mosich 1995), present up to 1800 m per evaporator module.
2
Heating surfaces of up to 8000 m in one apparatus, can only be attained by falling film tube
and the Balcke Duerr falling film plate evaporators. Normally, Robert evaporators do not
2
attain more than 3000 m per evaporator.

In contrast to the tube-bundle evaporators, all plate evaporators display a higher heating
surface density, with the most compact type by far, the falling film plate evaporator.

The material thickness required for plate evaporator heating surfaces, does not have to be as
thick as for the tube-bundle evaporators, due to its considerably higher rigidity.

The heating chambers of all plate evaporators are completely welded. The rising film plate
evaporators has seals on the juice side, whilst the falling film plate evaporator is completely
welded. See section 4.3

The minimum flow which the falling plate evaporator can operate, is approximately a factor
of 10 - 20 below that of the falling film tube evaporator. Similarly the rising film plate
evaporator also has a minimum flow of 38 l/(m2.h) or 100 l/hr per channel (stated by Alfa
Laval) but this is subject to much discussion (Punter and Christopherson 1992a,b, Bruhns et
al 1993, Gillatt and Thompson 1996).

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4.0 The Choice of Evaporator Technology

Faced with many suppliers offering different technologies the Sugar Engineer needs to have
both theoretical and practical knowledge of the available options in order to choose the right
evaporator. The criteria for selection have already been highlighted as:

Thermal Performance - dT and k value

Operability
Juice Quality
Installed Cost
Risk to Capacity

Based upon research at the Berlin Institute and operating experience within British Sugar this
section gives a Sugar Engineer the information to draw up their own short list of technology
and suppliers.

4.1 Thermal Performance

To carry out an objective comparison between different evaporator types from the aspect
of thermal performance, features of the juice like viscosity, wall thickness, heat flow density
(kW/m2) and flow type have to be considered.

Figure 10 presents the characteristic k-values of falling-film tube-and Roberts evaporators

and have been compared with k-values obtained from the pilot plant falling-film plate
evaporator (Balcke Duerr) of the Berlin Technical University. Also, data published by Licha
et al. 1994 and the ones that have been measured in Groningen (Morgenroth 1996a,b,c) are
also included. -These values are valid for the customary sphere of temperature and dry
substance content.

6000 k-values (technical plants)

W/(mK)

Falling Film Plate Evaporator

4000 k-values pilot plant TU Berlin
Groningen 1995 k=3170 W/(m*K)
Falling Film Plate Evaporator
Waghusel 1993 k=1650 - 1830 W/(m*K)
characteristical k-values of
2000 Tube Bundle Falling Film Evap.
characteristical k-values of
Robert type evaporators
1000
k-value

600
400

200

100
0,0001 0,0002 0,0004 0,0008 0,002 0,004 0,008

dynamic viscosity Pas

Figure 10: k-Values of different evaporators

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More data now exists on the Balcke Duerr falling-film plate evaporator from British Sugar
2
(Cantley Factory), where a 1047 m 5th effect has been commissioned during the 1996/97
campaign. This a retrofit using an the shell of the existing Roberts evaporator. Typical
operating data is shown in Table 3 . Figure 11 illustrates the measured performance of the
evaporator as a result of continuous plant monitoring. The British Sugar results support the
data obtained from the pilot plant at the Berlin Technical University.

k-value of Falling Film Plate Evaporator at Cantley 1996/97 Delta T of Falling Film Plate Evaporator at Cantley 1996/97
Operating with an approximate heat flow density of 2-4 kW/m2 Operating with an approximate heat flow density of 2-4 kW/m2
2500 5

2000 4
k-value (W/(m2.K)

1500 3

T eff. (K)
Average k-value Average Delta T
1000 2
= 1098 W/(m2.K) = 2.25 K

500 1

0 0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012
Dynamic Viscosity (Pa.s) Dynamic Viscosity (Pa.s)

Figure 11: k-value and delta T for the Cantley Unit (1996/97) using remote monitoring

Table 3: Typical Operating Data for Cantley Unit

Juice Flow In 108.28 107.17 101.98 tph

Juice Flow Out 100.70 100.64 95.71 tph
Water Evaporated 7.58 6.53 6.27 tph
Juice Inlet Brix 59.37 61.86 65.88 Bx
Juice Outlet Brix 63.83 65.87 70.20 Bx
Duty 3364 2837 2702 kW
k-value 1491 1180 1003 W/m2.K
Delta T 2.15 2.30 2.57 K

For the rising-film plate evaporators, Figure 12 and Figure 13 give the k-values that have
been published by Bucholz and Bruhns (1992, 1993, 1994), Bruhns et al. (1993), Punter
and Christopherson (1992a,b) and Kaufmann (1993). It has been reported by Punter and
Christopherson (1992b) and Austmeyer et al. (1995) that rising film evaporators plate and
tubes have a k value which declines with reducing heat flow density Therefore the data is
compared to those results obtained with the pilot plant falling film plate evaporator at similar
heat flow densities ( 2.5 and 5 kW/m2 etc).

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 k-value W/(mK)

6000
2 - 4 kW/m Rising Film Plate
4000
4 - 7 kW/m Rising Film Plate
2000 7 - 10 kW/m Rising Film Plate
1000 5 kW/m Falling Film Plate
600 2.5 kW/m Falling Film Plate
400
200
100
0,0001 0,0002 0,0004 0,0008 0,002 0,004 0,008
dynamic viscosity Pas

Figure 12: Comparison of the k-values measured at a falling film plate evaporator pilot plant
with those obtained from rising film plate evaporators

10
K

2 - 4 kW/m Rising Film Plate

4 - 7 kW/m Rising Film Plate
8
7 - 10 kW/m Rising Film Plate
T eff.

6 5 kW/m Falling Film Plate

2.5 kW/m Falling Film Plate
4

0
0,0001 0,0002 0,0004 0,0008 0,002 0,004 0,008
dynamic viscosity Pas
Figure 13: Comparison of the effective differences in temperature measured at a falling film
plate evaporator pilot plant with those operating data obtained from rising film
plate evaporators.

When comparing these values, it must be taken into account that the results yielded by the
rising film plate evaporator were not always secured under optimum conditions. It is not
yet possible to acquire an exact comparison of the evaporator systems efficiency with the help
of the diagrams presented above. The answer to this question rests in the fact that the number
of falling-plate installations is small hence limiting the availability of practical values.

The early indication is that the falling film plate evaporators have similar k values to the
rising film plate evaporator except when higher viscosity ranges or low heat flow densities
are attained, wherethe falling film type shows better OHTCs in comparision.

Technical Session 5C(i) 14

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4.2 Operability

4.2.1 Juice Distribution

2
For larger Alfa Laval rising film plate evaporators (approx. 1000m ) there have been
problems with incomplete juice distribution (Punter and Christopherson 1992b). This
problem was caused by the lower than expected pressure drop across the plates (30 - 50mbar)
which encouraged the juice to follow the path of least resistance and preferentially flow into
and out of the initial plates. This left a substantial number of plates with no flow. During 1996
British Sugar (York factory) installed a new gasket design of Alfa Laval which increased the
pressure drop and hence improved juice distribution. Similar problems with GEA plate
evaporators have not been reported.

For larger Alfa Laval rising film plate evaporators (approx. 1000m2) flow pulsation has been
experienced (Bruhns et al. 1993). On a similar twin pack installation within British Sugar this
problem has not been experienced due to each plate pack having a seperate juice feed.

Problems with juice distribution also apply to falling film plate evaporators. Contamination
with particles in the juice have blocked juice distributors therefore good juice filtration down
to 1.5 - 3.0 mm is required. These blockages are cleared by back flushing the unit.

A bigger problem was the seperation of flash vapour as the juice enters the distributor. With
the Balcke Duerr unit at Cantley this caused the juice to overflow and partly bypass the
evaporator. This problem was overcome by the installation of a juice deflector. This clearly
requires careful thought for future installations.

4.2.2 Cleaning

Nowadays the application of antiscalants and an optimum juice purification ensure normally
an uninterrupted operation of the entire evaporation plant during the whole campaign.
Especially in case of longer running periods - for example in case of British Sugar - or
extensive fouling, a careful monitoring of the pressure drop for each effect is neccessary and
intermediate cleaning should be done before blocking plate gaps. For rationalisation purposes,
the evaporators are generally subjected to chemical cleansing procedures.

The differences in the fouling velocity at the heating surfaces and the effectiveness of
cleaning schemes are very important details. It is often recommended that there might be a
cleaning problem with plate evaporators.

Figure 14 shows the k-values measured at a Balcke Duerr plate evaporator with 1st effect
juice, operating as a 2nd effect in a South African cane sugar factory (with much higher
scaling rates as in the beet sugar industry), after several chemical cleaning procedures
(Walthew at al. 1997). The the k-values were restored succesfully after every cleaning
procedure.

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 7000

W/(mK)
31.07.96
6000
28.08.96 14.09.96
5000
20.08.96 06.11.96
06.09.96
4000
k-value

3000

2000

1000

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Number of cleaning procedure

Figure 14: k-values of juices after cleaning

On the other hand it is also known, that chemical cleaning with the rising film plate
evaporators is not successful in every case due to an unequal distribution and velocity of the
cleaning solution on the heating surface in case of thick scales. But in this case the evaporator
can be dismantled and cleaned mechanically.
Where falling film evaporators are concerned - quite independently of their design - loose
deposits can leave the heating chamber due to the gravity. The rising film plate evaporators
are confronted with the hazard, that the cleaning solution does not flow evenly and with
sufficient velocity through the plate channels in the case of extensive fouling in order to
remove deposits/scale cushions.
The possible transverse movement of the juice - within the plate packets of the falling
film plate evaporator - brought about by the interrupted tubular structure - does allow
the heating surface to become accessible, should blockages occur in the individual spheres
of the tubular segments that are fully welded. As opposed to a continuous tube profile, the
accessibility concerning the dissolution of the incrustations is therefore markedly improved.
On principle, the falling film plate evaporator may also be employed as a rising film plate
evaporator for cleaning purposes to achieve high turbulences.

4.3 Residence time and colour formation

From the aspect of juice quality, sugar losses and colour formation are of a big economic
interest. Taking an energy economic sugar end in consideration the colour of the thick juice is
of central economic interest. Modern evaporation plants based on the falling film principle
with single evaporators for each effect gurantee an increase in juice colour of 10 to 20 %
based on the thin juice colour (without sulfitation). Figure 15 and Figure 16 show the
differences in colour formation for a six effect Robert, falling film tube bundle and Balcke
Duerr falling film plate evaporation plant. The colour formation has a lot of influencing
factors. Because of that only a range of colour formation is given.
Technical Session 5C(i) 16
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 140
min

120 10 000 t/d beet slice rate

pressure range: 3 - 0,7 bar
Clear juice draft: 106 % a.R.
Residence time

100 Dry substance mass flow: 17 % a.R.

Range wDS = 16 - 74 %

80 FFPE
Robert
60

40

20

0
Clear J. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Effect

Figure 15: Juice residence time in a Robert and Balcke Duerr plate Evaporator based
evaporation plant
IE 420

10000
8,6 min (Balcke Duerr) 122 min
Robert
10 000 t/d beet slice rate
8000 pressure range: 3 - 0,7 bar
Clear juice draft: 106 % a.R.
Dry substance mass flow: 17 % a.R.
Range wDS = 16 - 74 %

6000 + Colour Robert

Falling Film Tube Bundle
Colour

Colour Balcke Drr

12,2 min
4000

2000

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Juice residence time min

Figure 16: Colour formation in a Robert and Balcke Duerr plate Evaporator based evaporation
plant

The residence time in the Robert plant (not taking into account that no one would plan a six
effect Robert plant today) is about 14 times longer (122 min) than in the falling film plate
evaporator based plant (8,6 min). The colour formation (for non-sulphitated) is about 300 to

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500 % on thin juice (Robert plant) compared to only 10 to 20 % in case of the falling film
plate evaporator plant. The situation with sugar losses might be similar.

4.4 The Cost Factor

Regarding the necessary costs, technological advantages offered by an evaporator system

must be cost justified.

Apart from the actual evaporator, peripheral costs, such as those arising for
measurement and control systems, piping, insulation, foundations, vapour entrainment,
pump sizes, electrical energy requirement, together with static problems and the availability
of space, must be considered, to name but a few. The present trends towards such evaporator
systems that possess an ever increasing process efficiency and the continuous enlargement
of the plant capacity, very often makes it more attractive to invest in a heating surface
than to contemplate the definitely more expensive investments in the boiling house.

Recent experiences within British Sugar have demonstrated the complexity of comparing
installed capital costs. However the various cost merits need to be understood in order to
arrive at the best solution for your factory. The following considerations need to be taken into
account

1. Re-using existing equipment (i.e. boosting a Roberts evaporator)

2. Cost of new evaporator heat transfer area

3. Installation Costs
- Civils
- Steelwork
- Electrics and Controls
- Pipework
- Available Space
- Design and Safety

4. Ancillary plant
- Optimising the use of existing pressure drop between effects to minimize pumps
- Additional vessels/separators
- pumps
- Chemical cleaning
- Available boiler capacity

5. Installation timetable

6. Maintenance /Operating Costs

- Gaskets
- Loss of electricity generation

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The breakdown of a typical large evaporator project is

Main Plant 50 %
Pipework and valves 20 %
Lagging 5%
Steelwork 6%
Civils and Building Finishes 5%
Electrics and Controls 10%
Others 4%
Total 100%

Although the main plant items are the majority of the cost the ancillary installation costs can
also make the difference between success and failure.

The following are some of the examples that can affect the cost of the installation:

The benefit of re-using equipment (e.g. Boosting an existing Roberts evaporator with a
plate evaporator) is obvious in reducing the main plant cost above. Obviously the technical
solution has to produce acceptable operating costs - another cost balance.

Using the pressure drop between evaporators instead of pumps, also has a big impact on
simplifying the systems and reducing the cost, e.g. Booster evaporators in series with an
existing Roberts.

Retrofitting a falling plate evaporator within a Roberts vessel can reduce ancillary
equipment cost although the Project management and installation may be more difficult.

In some cases re-using equipment can produce a more expensive solution, especially for
large evaporators. In these cases buying large new evaporators, single stream can result in
the simplest system with minimum cost and easiest Project Management.

An evaporator with no maintenance costs is an obvious attraction. The integrity of gaskets

and welds in plate evaporators is an obvious point of concern. With a long history of
installing Alfa Laval plate evaporators British Sugar has only 1 experience of gasket
failure. This experience was after 10 years of operation at the Bury St Edmunds sugar
factory (2nd effect Booster) and was longer than originally expected. The welds on a
Balcke Duerr falling film plate evaporator still need to be proven over such a time period,
and guaranteed for even longer.

Minimising plate thickness will reduce the quantity of material purchased and hence the
costs whilst increasing heat transfer. For instance a 5000m2 Balcke Duerr contains 35%
less metal than an equivalent falling film tube evaporator.

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 Figure 17 demonstrates the differences in electrical power demand between a Falling film
Tube bundle and a Balcke Duerr based plant. Due to the need of juice recirculation and the
height of falling film tube bundle evaporators a factor of 2.4 in energy demand is a
significant difference.

300
Electrical
Power
Demand 250
kW
200
Falling Film Tube
150
Balcke Duerr

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6

Effect

Figure 17: Electrical Power demand of a Falling film tube bundle or Balcke Duerr
evaporation plant (six effects with pre-evaporation - 10,000 t beet/day)

The choice of the process flowsheet, plant layout and evaporator technology and supplier
performance can fundamentally decide on the success/failure of the project to meet the cost
constraints of the project and deliver a successful investment return for the project. This is a
significant challenge for the Sugar Engineer, Project Manager and Suppliers together.

All of the above aspects have been taken into account when looking at the expansion of York
factory from 7,000 to 9,000 tpd beet sliced due to be commissioned 1997.

For York the chosen solution is :

Effect Solution
1 New Wiedemann falling film 4,500 m2
2 New Wiedemann falling film 4,500 m2
3a, 3b 2 streams Existing Roberts with new 1,000 m2 GEA booster's in series
4a, 4b 2 streams Existing Roberts with existing 500 m2 GEA booster in series and
existing 500 m2 Alfa Laval booster in parallel
5a, 5b 2 streams Existing Roberts with existing 1,000 m2 Alfa Laval booster's in
parallel
6a, 6b Single stream, Existing 2,000 m2 Alfa Laval Complete Effect plus a new
1,000 m2 GEA Complete Effect in series

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This solution was 200,000 cheaper than the nearest competing solution, despite evaluating
many combinations of plate and supplier, often using significantly more plates . The final
solution met the requirements of risk, cost, performance and operability. A significant factor
was that the above scheme maximized the re-use of existing Roberts and plate evaporators
therefore considerably reducing the cost of new evaporator area.

The next project will provide a different set of challenges, which will produce a different
process flowsheet and evaporator selection. Together the Sugar Engineer, Project Manager
and Supplier can add great value in reaching the final solution final solution and maximising
the return from the investment.

5.0 Future Developments

Looking ahead it is important to describe a conceptual flow sheet which can further improve
sugar industry evaporation. For example the evaporation tower concept.

Also it is important to define the vision of the ideal evaporator which has not yet been built.

5.1 Evaporation Tower Concept

The compact construction of the falling film plate evaporator, the lower height compared to
falling tube and no juice recirculation pumps due to the the lower wetting rate, allow a single
pass concept whereby successive effects can be stacked upon each other. A tower has the
benefit of reducing the floor area required.

An evaporator tower consisting of three effects that are 5000 m2 each, is shown in Figure
18. The total construction height of this plant comes to approximately 32 m, the
pressure vessel possessing a diameter of 4 m.

Technical Session 5C(i) 21

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 Vapour 1

Exhaust Steam

Condensate 1
LIC

Vapour 2

Condensate 2
LIC

Vapour 3
Vapour 3

Condensate 3
LIC

Thin Juice Concentrated

Juice

Figure 18: Construction principle of a tower evaporator

The first move towards this concept will be the installation of 5 horizontal effects in the
Austrian Sugar Factory, Hohenau for the 1997 campaign.

5.2. The Vision for the future

Looking further ahead, a view of the authors are that the evaporator of the future would
exhibit the features below:

Lowest Overall Cost

- low /m2 or /UA
- simplicity
- no pumps
- no control loops
- easy to install and project manage
- compact, reducing space requirement
- minimal material
- no maintenance e.g. gasket replacement

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 Best Process Performance
- high OHTC
- Low dT
- low residence time/high quality juice
- no operator interaction

Versatile across a range of capacities and applications

- complete systems
- 500m2 - 8000 m2
- Booster or complete effect format
- Full turndown

Low risk
- will not block
- easy to clean or not needing cleaning

This will represent a challenge to both the suppliers and researchers within the Sugar Industry
alike.

6 Conclusion

The one aspect of choice that has not been explored within the document is risk to capacity.
It is appropiate to conclude on this matter, as again there are choices. Many of the answers are
contained within the body of the paper.

The Sugar Engineer will select a short-list of evaporator solutions which satisfy the risk
criteria of the factory or project.

The Supplier will provide the practical, commercial and fundamental understanding of their
technology which gives the customer the confidence in their product and service.

The Project Manager will decide on the risk that is acceptable for the sugar factory or project
in order to deliver the financial returns which drive the investment.

The further development of evaporators needs to continue, to give more choice and the
confidence that investment returns will be delivered. This will require supplier and customer
to work together. Long may this be the case.

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7 Literature

Austmeyer, K.E., Mauch, W., Morgenroth, B., 1995a: Experiences with Falling Film Plate
Evaporators and Construction of an Evaporation Plant on the Basis of this Evaporator Type,
CITS in Munich, 26-30 of June 1995

Austmeyer, K.E., Morgenroth, B., Mauch, W., 1995b: Plate evaporators in the sugar industry,
XXII ISSCT Congress, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia 7-15 September 1995

Bruhns, M., Korn, H.-F., Lehnberger, A., Schulz, T., 1993: Plattenverdampfer fr Dicksaft:
Betriebserfahrungen und Untersuchungen zum Wrmebergang, Zuckerind.118, 611-
619

Buchholz, K., Bruhns, M., 1992: ber die Kampagne 1991 und neuere technische
Entwicklungen, Zuckerind. 117, 317-335

Buchholz, K., Bruhns, M., 1993: ber die Kampagne 1992 und neuere technische
Entwicklungen, Zuckerind. 118, 321-338

Buchholz, K., Bruhns, M., 1994: ber die Kampagne 1993/1994 und neuere technische
Entwicklungen, Zuckerind. 119, 351-371

Christoph, D., 1994: Vortrag im Rahmen des Zuckertechnologischen Colloquiums, TU Berlin

Christoph, D., Kaufmann, S., Kuehn, H., Knigge, R., 1995: Prozetechnische Untersuchungen
zum Einsatz des Plattenverdampfapparates zum Konzentrieren von technischen
Saccharoselsungen, Z. Zuckerind. 120, 1027-1036

Gillat, M., Thompson, P., 1996: Plate evaporators in British Sugar - An update, Z. Zuckerind.
121, Nr. 9, 709-714

Jayatilaka, D. S., 1997: British Sugar Internal Report into Cantleys Falling Film Plate
Evaporator

Jonker, W., 1996: Erste Betriebserfahrungen mit dem Balcke-Drr-Platten.Fallfilm-

Verdampfer in der Zuckerfabrik Suiker Unie Groningen, Rheinisch-Westflischer
Zweigverein (VDZ), 29.03.1996 in Kln

Kaufmann, S., 1993: Energietechnische Untersuchungen in der Zuckerfabrik Lbau

(Sdzucker GmbH Zeitz) vom Wrme-Kraft- Proze bis zum Wrmeenergieverbrauch im
technologischen Proze, Diplomarbeit, TU Berlin

Khn, H., 1994: Vortrag im Rahmen des Zuckertechnologischen Colloquiums, TU Berlin

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Lehnberger, A., 1996: Verdampfapparate fr die Zuckerindustrie - Rohrbndel oder
Plattenpakete, Vortrag auf der Frhjahrshauptversammlung des Rheinisch-Westflischen
Zweigvereins Deutscher Zuckertechniker in Kln, 29.03.1996

Licha, H., Valentin, P., Wersel, M., Witte, G., 1989: Der Plattenverdampfer - ein neuer
Weg in der Verdampfertechnik, Zuckerind. 114, 785-798

Licha, H., Morgenroth, B., Witte, G., 1994: Operating experience with a falling-film plate
evaporator, Zuckerind. 119, 257-262

Meyer, K., 1975: Wrmebergang in Fallstromverdampfern, Diss. TU Braunschweig

Morgenroth, B., Austmeyer, K.E., Mauch, W., 1995: Experiences with the falling film plate
evaporator and concepts for energy efficient process schemes in the cane sugar industry,
Zuckerind. 120 (ISSCT), 23-30

Morgenroth, B., 1996a: Stand der Technik und konzeptionelle Entwicklung der
Verdampfanlage, Deutsch Polnischer Energie-Workshop fr die Zuckerindustrie vom 22. -
26.04.1996

Morgenroth, B., Mauch, W., Austmeyer, K.E., 1996b: Etat de la technique et conception des
developments en matiere devaporation, La Sucrerie Belge, Vol. 114, 5-19

Morgenroth, B., Jonker, W., Lehnberger, A., 1996c: Betriebserfahrungen mit einem Platten-
Fallstromverdampfer mit 6000 m2 Heizflche in der Zuckerfabrik Groningen, Z. Zuckerind.
121, 485-490

Mosich, K., 1995: personal information

Niepoth, K., 1995: personal information

Punter, G.A., Christopherson, P.M., 1992a: First experience with plate evaporators,
Zuckerind. 117, 30-32

Punter, G.A., Christopherson, P.M., 1992b: Plate Evaporators in Beet Sugar Industry,
British Sugar plc Technical Conference, Eastbourne 1992

Walthew, D.C., Morgenroth, B., Diringer, T., Hattwig, N., Przybylak, P., Friedrich, C.,
1997: Pilot plant investigations into a Balcke Drr falling film plate evaporator in GH,
SASTA Conference, Durban 5th to 6th June 1997, in print

Wersel, M., 1990: bersicht ber die Entwicklung des Alfa-Laval Plattenverdampfers
in der Zuckerindustrie, Vortrag auf der Hauptversammlung des Niederschsischen
Zweigvereins des Verein Deutscher Zuckertechniker in Braunschweig am 23. Mrz 1990

Wersel, M., 1995: personal information

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Technical Session 5C(i) 26
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Authors Address

Dipl.-Ing. B. Morgenroth, Technische Universitt Berlin, Institut fr Lebensmitteltechnologie

I, Fachgebiet Energiewirtschaft und Anlagenplanung, Amrumer Str. 32, D - 13353 Berlin,
Germany
Gary Punter and Darren Jayatilaka, British Sugar, Oundle Road, Peterborough, PE1 2UB.
United Kingdom

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