Chemical Engineering Laboratory Manual

Triple Effect Evaporator

EXPERIMENTNO.53
TRIPLEEFFECTEVAPORATOR
Updated11/17/2004
OBJECTIVES:
1. Determinetheindividualandoverallefficienciesforthefeedforwardtripleeffect
evaporator.
2. Measureoverallheattransfercoefficientsforthethreeevaporators,andcompare
withvaluesfromliterature.
3. Measuretheconcentrationofsulfateinthefeedandliquorstreams,andcompare
withvaluesobtainedfromamaterialbalance.
4. Determineboilingpointelevationsineacheffect.
NOTATION:
e
s
m

Economy(dimensionless)

Massflowrateofsteam(mass/time)

Overallheattransfercoefficient
(energy/length2timedegree)

Vaporflowrate(mass/time)

Subscripts:
subscripts1,2,3refertoconditionsinthefirst,secondandthirdevaporator,
respectively,orinstreamsexitingthoseeffects.
subscriptsreferstoconditionsinthesteamline.
THEORY:
Evaporationinvolvesaspecialcaseofheattransfer.Thepurposeofevaporationisto
concentrateasolutionconsistingofanonvolatilesoluteandavolatilesolvent.Athick
liquorisproducedbyvaporizingthesolvent.Byusingthesolventvaporsproduced
fromoneunitasasourceofheattoanotherevaporationunit,approximatelytwounits
ofevaporationcanbeobtainedfromoneunitofprimaryheatsupplied.This
multiplicationcanbecontinuedto"n"unitswhere"n"isafunctionoftheheatsource
temperature,condensingtemperature,boilingpointriseandthecharacteristicsofthe
liquor.Thethickliquorisusuallythevaluableproduct,andthepurerecoveredsolvent
canberecycled.

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Theapplicableequationsdescribingthetheoreticaloperationofanevaporatorare
presentedinReference(1)andarelistedinExperiment52inthismanual.The
economyofanevaporatorisdefinedastheratiooftheevaporationrateoutofthe
evaporatortothesteamrateintothesteamchestorcalandria.

e
1

V
s
m

Formultipleeffectevaporation,anindividualeconomycanbecalculatedbasedonthe
steamandvaporflowratesforeacheffectoranoveralleconomycanbecomputed,
whichistheratiooftotalevaporationtosteamflowintothefirsteffect.
eo

Vi
s1
m

2
EQUIPMENT:
Thetripleeffectevaporatorinthelaboratoryconsistsofthreeidenticalevaporator
bodieswiththeheatexchangerineachbeingacalandria(1,3).Theheattransfer
surface(calculatedfromdrawings)ineacheffectis10.97sq.ft.Theevaporatorismore
fullydescribedindrawingsB38andB53(2).
Auxiliaryequipmentincludesafeedtank,aproducttank,afeedpump,acondenser,a
vacuumpump,andeightcondensatecollectiontanks,twoforeacheffectandtwofor
thefinalcondenser.Duplicatetanksandvalvingallowforcontinuoussteadystate
operationandcollectionofcondensatewithoutbreakingthevacuumontheevaporator
inordertodischargeandmeasurethecollectedcondensate.
Thepipingandvalvesarearrangedsothattheevaporatorcanbeoperatedwithforward
feedontheliquor;tripleeffectonsteamandvaporusage.
Thermocouplesareprovidedinliquidandvaporspaces,andinthecondensatelines,as
wellasinthefeedlineandinthecoolingwaterlinestoandfromthesurfacecondenser.
Pressuretransducersareprovidedonthesteamspaces,andvacuumgagesareprovided
onthevacuumpumpandonthecondenser.Thethermocouplesareconnectedtoa
digitalreadoutonthefrontpanel.
EXPERIMENTAL:
Becomefamiliarwiththeevaporatorbywayofonthespotinspectioncoupledwitha
studyofdrawingsB38andB53(2).Checktheconditionoftheevaporatorand
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auxiliaryequipment,makingadjustmentsand/orrepairsifnecessarytogetitworking
correctly.Operatetheevaporatoratsteadystateforaperiodofnolessthan20minutes.
Duringthesteadystateperiodgathersufficienttemperature,pressure,andevaporation
data(bycollectingcondensatesasafunctionoftime)tobeabletodeterminethe
evaporationrateineacheffect,theboilingpointelevation,theconcentrationofthe
soluteinthefeed,andtheconcentrationofthesoluteintheliquorleavingeacheffect.
SUGGESTEDPROCEDUREFOROPERATINGEVAPORATOR:
Whiletherearemanywaystostartupandoperatethetripleeffectevaporatorwehave
attheSDSM&Tlaboratory,theproceduresuggestedhereisthoughttobeoneofthe
moststraightforwardandeasiesttoarriveatsteadystate.
1. Familiarizewiththepipingflowsofthesystem.Knowthewaterfeedsystem,steam
feedsystem,condensatesystems,andvacuumsystem.
2. Fillthefeedtankwithtapwater.AtSDSM&Tweusecitywatersinceitisneat,
doesnotconstituteanenvironmentalproblem,andcontainssufficientsoluble
sulfatetobeusedasatiecomponenttodetermineevaporationdatabyanalysisfor
changeinconcentration.
3. Startuptheevaporatoraccordingtothefollowingprocedure:
a. Checkinstrumentationtoassureitisinworkingorder.
b. Drainthecondensatetanksandfinalproducttank.
c. Closethedrainvalvesonthecondensatetanksandthefinalproducttank.Open
onevalveforeachpairofcondensatetankstothevacuumsystem(startwiththe
tankslabeledwithred).Alsoopenthecondensatevalvestothosetanksandthe
steamcondensate1tank.
d. Openthewaterfeedlinetothefirsteffect.Bypassthefeedcontrolvalveto
start.Havethewatervalvebetweeneffect1andeffect2closedatstart.
e. Turnoncoolingwatertothecondenserbyopeningtheyellowballvalvegoing
intothebottomofthecondenser.
f. Turnonpowertothedisplaypanel.
g. Turnonthefeedpumpandmanuallycontrolthelevelinthefirsteffect.The
levelshouldbemaintainedaround25%sothatitcanbeseeninthesightglass.

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h. Fillthefirsteffecttoabout40%andopenthewatervalvetothesecondeffect.
Allowthefirstandsecondcolumnstoequilibrate.Ifthelevelsarenotaround
25%,increasefeedratetofirstcolumnuntillevelisatleast25%inboth.
i. Openthewatervalvebetweenthesecondandthirdeffects.Waitforlevelto
equilibrateinall3columns.Iflevelofcolumnsisbelow25%,increasefeed
rateuntilthereisenoughlevel.
j. Oncelevelissufficientinallcolumns,startupthecomputer.OpenTripleEffect
Controlfromthedesktop.ClickDebug,andthenRunStrategy.Then,open
PACDisplayRuntimeBasic.ClickingthevalvesintheP&IDwillallowyouto
settuningparametersforthecontrolvalves.ClickingtheLevelVariations
buttonwillallowyoutoseeagraphofall3columnlevelsinonescreen.
k. InthePACDisplayRuntimeBasic,makethesetpointforCV2(feedvalve),
CV3(betweencolumn1and2),andCV5(betweencolumn2and3)to25%.
Then,closethebypassvalvesforeachofthewaterlinesandslightlyopeneach
oftheballvalvessurroundingthose3controlvalves.Thiswillallowyouto
automaticallycontrolthelevelofeachcolumn.
l. Openthegatevalvecomingfromthesteamheader.Thesteamshouldbegoing
throughthesteamcondensatelinetothewestmostcondensatetanktostart.
Openthecoolingwatergatevalvegoingintothatsametank.Openthe
condensatedrainofthattank.
m. OpenthevalvessurroundingthesteamcontrolvalveCV1.InPACDisplay
RuntimeBasic,startsteamflowthroughtothefirstcolumn.
n. Opentheballvalvegoingtothevacuumlinetostartavacuumincolumns2and
3.Closealltheoutletvalvesforthelast3setsofcondensatetanks(ventand
bottomsvalves).
o. Afteraperiodoftime,eachcolumnwillbegintoboil.Keepall3columns
boilingatasteadylevelforatleast40minutes.Thiswillconcentratethewater
inthethirdcolumn.
p. Recordthetemperaturesandpressuresofthesystemwhileinsteadystate.
q. Startflowfrombottomofcolumn3tothefinalproducttank.Collectthefinal
producttofindtheconcentration.
r. Whendonecollectingtheconcentratedproduct,shutdowntheprocess.
a. Closesteamvalvetotripleeffect.
b. Closethevalvecreatingthevacuum.
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c. Stopthewaterfeedtothesystemandshutoffthefeedpump.
d. CloseoutofPACDisplayRuntimeBasic.InPACControlBasic,click
StopStrategyandcloseout.
e. Closethecoolingwaterinletvalvetothecondenserwhenallcolumnsstop
boiling.
f. Turnoffpowertopanel.
g. Drainallcondensatetanksandthefinalproducttank.
REPORTING:
Inwritingupthisexperimentyoushould:
1. Reportinletsteamrate,andvaporratesV1,V2,V3asmeasuredbycollectionof
condensates.
2. Tabulatetemperatures,pressures,andtemperaturedifferencesineacheffect.
Determinethedegreeofboilingpointelevationforeacheffect.
3. Reporttheconcentrationofsulfateinthefeedandeachliquorstream.Thereare
fourstreams.
4. CalculateC1,C2,C3byamassbalancearoundeachoftheeffectsandcompare
thesevalueswiththemeasuredonesin3.above.
5. CalculateandreportmeasuredoverallheattransfercoefficientsU1,U2,U3,along
withtheirexperimentaluncertainties.Comparethesevalueswithvaluesfrom
correlation/literature.
6. Calculateandreporttheindividualeconomiesaswellastheoverallevaporator
economyusingequations1and2.Comparewithtypicalvaluesreportedinthe
literature.
7. Discussyourresults.Howwelldoyourresultsagreewithpublisheddata?Suggest
reasonablesourcesoferrorifdiscrepanciesexist.Donotspeculate,butsupport
yourreasoningwithcalculationswhereverpossible.
QUESTIONSFORTHOUGHT/DISCUSSION:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Whyisavacuumsourcerequiredtorunamultipleeffectevaporator?
Whataretheadvantagesoffeedforwardvs.reversefeeddesignsformultiple
effectevaporators?
IsthereacorrelationbetweenUandTacrosseacheffect?Whyorwhynot?
Howwouldtheuseofamoreconcentratedsaltfeedsolutionaffecttheoperation
ofthisunit?
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REFERENCES:
1. WarrenL.McCabe,JulianC.Smith,andPeterHarriott,UnitOperationsof
ChemicalEngineering,FifthEdition,McGrawHillBookCo.(1993).
2. SDSM&TDesignLabDrawings:B38andB53.
3. C.J.Geankoplis,TransportProcessesandUnitOperations,ThirdEdition,Prentice
HallPTR(1993).
FORADDITIONALINFORMATION:
4. RobertH.Perry,DonW.Green,andJamesO.Maloney,ChemicalEngineers'
Handbook,SixthEdition,pp.10.3410.38,11.3111.43,McGrawHillBookCo.
(1984).
5. Weast,RobertC.,CRCHandbookofChemistryandPhysics,anyedition,sectionon
"ConcentrativePropertiesofAqueousSolutions",intheSixtythirdEdition(1982
83),pp.D.227276),ChemicalRubberCo.
6. AppendixE.

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