Evaporator Performance 141 example, the choice ot an air-cooled condenser versus a water-cooled condenser ‘an be made only after evaluating both equipment costs and the costs of cooling water and horsepower. ‘Steam When heating with steam, a selection of the proper steam pressure level ‘must be made when designing the unit. No definite rules tor such selection ccan be established because of changing plant steam balances and availability. However, it is generally more economical to select the lowest available steam pressure level whieh offers asaturation temperature above le process lamperature required. Some evaporator types require relatively low temperature difforences. Some products may require low temperatures in order to reduce fouling or Product degradation. ‘Superheated steam in general presents no design problems as calandrias are ‘well baffled to serve as a solf desuperheater and are vented to prevent gas blanket: ing from any inert gacee peasant in tha steam. Ay auparheat ig quickly eemoued: the mechanism is primarily one of condensing and re-evaporation, maintaining ‘tubewall temperatures essentially the same as that experienced when condensing saturated steam. Desuperheatina is accomplished at the expense of the tempera ture difference available, The mechanical design of the equipment must be adequate for the temperature conditions that can be imposed by the superheat inthe steam, Cooling Water Maximum outlet temperatures for cooling water are usually dictated by the chemistry of the cooling water. Most cooling waters contain chlorides and car bbonates; consequently heat transfer surfaces (tube wall) temperatures must not exceed certain values in order to minimize formation of calcareous deposits, or scaling, which reduces heat transfer and leads to excessive corrosion. In addition, Velocity restriction must be imposed and observed to prevent corrosion and fouling as a result of sedimentation and poor venting. Stagnant conditions on ‘the water side must afways be avolded. In some plants water consumption Is dictated by thermal pollution restrictions Do not impose unnecessary restraints on the pressure drops permitted across ‘the water side of condensers. All too often, specified design values for pressure drop are too low and much higher values are realized when the unit has been installed and is operating. Not only does this result in more expensive equip- ‘ment, but frequently no monitoring of the water flow is undertaken and cooling ‘water consumption is excessive, increasing operating costs, ‘Tempared Water Systeme Because cooling water consumption is governed by factors other than ‘energy conservation and because cooling water velocities must be maintained above certain values, tempered water systems con be effectively used at loca tions where cooling water temperatures vary with the season of the year. At some locations a 30°C difference between summer and winter water tempers tuires ie experianced. At such locations a tampered water system may he used142 Handbook of Evaporation Technology In order to reduce botn pumping costs and maintenance costs. A tempered water system requires 2 pump to recycle part of the heated cooling water in order to maintain a constant inlet water temperature. Figure 13-5 presents a schematic diagram of such @ tempered water system. Annuel purn dduced by as much as 25% with such a system. conte may be ve ' Figure 19-8: Tempered water system, Pumping costs for such a system are reduced because the pump has to de- velop only the pressure loss across the heat exchanger, which is usually much less than the pressure difference across the supply and return water headers. Tempered water systems have the disadvantage that a pump is required for each condenser in order to realize all the potential energy savings. However, the ‘consequences of losing a pump are not great because the heat transfer can be met at the expense of increased pumping costs. Also, there are several months of ‘the year when the tempered water pumps are not needed. This period can be used for pump maintenance. Tempering all the water to a unit in order to reduce ‘the number of pumps can be done, but the power savings is greatly reduced be- cause the pumps must usually develop a greater head, However, maintenance ‘costs will be reduced as a result of proper velocity control. Heat Exchange Energy economy can be improved by properly exchanging heat between entering cold streams and leaving warm streams. Ideally, all streams should enter and leave at the same temperature; obviously this cannot be achieved, However, heat exchange will permit this goal to be more closely approached. Usable heat may be present in the product and/or condensate leaving the system, This can frequently be used 10 preheat feed. Several hear exchangers are available for such application: (1) shetl-and-tube