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Climbing Film Evaporator

ENCH 371 Chemical Engineering Laboratories

Before you start


Read this lab sheet
Complete the pre laboratory calculations

Objective

To determine the most economic operating conditions for a climbing film evaporator
using experimental and theoretical techniques.

Introduction

Climbing film evaporators are primarily used in industry to concentrate a solution.


These evaporators are normally operated under a vacuum, so as to lower the boiling
point of the solution and aid its passage through the evaporation column. This
characteristic, combined with the high heat transfer rate at low temperature and low
contact time makes the climbing film evaporator ideal for concentrating heat sensitive
materials. Climbing film evaporators are most commonly used to concentrate fruit
juice, black liquor in the kraft pulping process, dairy products, and in desalination
applications. An important feature of this type of evaporator is its low cost. The
climbing film evaporator is the cheapest evaporator per unit capacity available.

A basic goal of chemical and process engineering is to develop designs and operating
conditions for chemical processes that yield a maximum return on capital and
operating investment. Some methods of optimising the operating conditions have
been achieved through mathematical techniques: linear programming and response
surface experimental design methods are two such techniques. The optimum
operating conditions will be determined using the “Simplex” self-directing
Evolutionary Operation (EVOP). The EVOP method can rapidly find an optimum
operating point in the presence of experimental error. It is a straight forward
technique, readily handled by manual calculations, and has been used to improve
process operations based on actual plant data.

The climbing film evaporator used for this experiment is a QVF pilot-plant climbing
film evaporator. It is located at the east end of the Denham semi-scale laboratory.

Background

A chemical and process engineering consultant has been asked by a sugar company;
“Broke and Stuffed Sugar Industries,” to make a final effort to save their plant. The
stock market crash of 1987 and tough competition in the industry has led to a
succession of negative results. The initial objective is to optimise the company’s
climbing film evaporator process which concentrates sugar solutions for the
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American and Japanese markets. Previous research by the company has determined
that the solution feed rate and steam supply rate are the two most important variables
that affect the performance of the evaporator. The following information was
provided by the company’s now unemployed accountants:

Steam: $17.50 tonne-1


Sugar Solution: V = 1.2C1.6
where V = Product Value (or Feed Cost)($.tonne-1)
C = Sugar Concentration (Mass %)
Feed Pump Cost: $0.0001 stroke-1
Capital Installed Cost: $8000
Capital Depreciation: 20% annum-1
Hours Worked per Year: 8000

Specific Aim

The climbing film evaporator is to be optimised on the following basis:

• With respect to profit per 1000kg of product

• With respect to maximum profit possible per day

Theory

Obtain and read the following paper from the ENCH 371 folder in the Engineering
Library:

Title: Process Improvement with ‘Simplex’ Self Directing Evolutionary Operation


Source: Chemical Engineering, 5th July, vol. 72, 1965, pp117-126 (q TP 1.C517 e)

This paper details the EVOP procedure for optimising a piece of process equipment.
Take special note of calculating the new experimental conditions and the rules for
special situations.

Understand the material presented in the Least Squares section of the briefing sheet.

The Climbing Film Evaporator in Detail

A Brief Description of the Process

The climbing film evaporator has two distinct flows. The first of these is the steam
stream. The steam flow rate is controlled by a control valve that is regulated by valve
top pressure (VTP). This in turn is controlled by a signal current that varies between
1.5mA and 4mA. The steam flows through the jacket surrounding the outside of the
vertical feed column. As it condenses, it releases its heat of vaporisation, then passes
out of the evaporator through a steam trap at the bottom.
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The feed stream is injected into the column by a solenoid pump, which is regulated
by a 4-20mA control current. The feed flows up the centre of the evaporating
column, where it is heated by the steam. A portion of the feed boils to vapour and
flows up the evaporation column. Another portion of the feed is forced up the
column by the plugs of vapour beneath it and the vacuum maintained from the top of
the column.

At the top of the evaporation column there is a cyclone that separates the sugar
solution and the water vapour into separate streams. The liquid phase, which is the
concentrated product, passes down through a series of air locks before passing out of
the system. The vapour stream passes through a condenser, before passing through a
series of air locks and out of the system. The entire tubeside is operated at a
significant vacuum to reduce the boiling point of the solution and aid its travel up the
evaporating column.

By this process, the sugar solution is concentrated from a concentration range of 7-


9% to a concentration of 25% or more.

Sensing Equipment

All the electronics of the climbing film evaporator are operated from the electronic
board to the right of the evaporator. The power switch, which powers all the
equipment electronics, is located at the top left of the board. To the right of the
power switch are the switches for the stirrers of the sugar and water tanks.

The other parts of the sensing equipment which are of interest are the steam and feed
flow rates and the cycle time. The feed flow rate is determined by an instrument
current which controls the speed of the solenoid pump. One may alter this current via
a variable resistor; an ammeter dial which provides a readout in milli-amps (mA).
The steam flow rate is varied by a steam valve controller which is likewise set by a
variable resistor, with the current also indicated on the electronic board. It also has a
milli-amp readout to provide an indication of the steam flow rate. The cycle time
refers to the time between successive operations of the solenoid sequence that
operates the air lock system. It governs the amount of time that the product is
allowed to accumulate before it is discharged. A longer cycle time will provide more
product per cycle, but less cycles.

The Vacuum

A partial vacuum is preserved in the section of the climbing film evaporator after the
evaporation column. This is to aid the flow of the sugar concentrate up the
evaporator and to reduce the boiling point of the solution. The vacuum is maintained
by a vacuum pump situated next to the LPG boiler. The vacuum line is attached to all
parts of the equipment. This is to prevent pressure gradients developing between
pieces of equipment, which could lead to damage.

The vacuum is operated from the electronic board. The vacuum line from the
vacuum condenser can either be directly connected to the equipment, or the line
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closed and another line to atmosphere opened. This allows the pressurisation and
depressurisation of the equipment when desired.

Outline of Procedure

Start Up:

• Turn on all the sensing equipment (The power switch on the electronic board)
• Open Supply tank 1 (A switch on the electronic board)
• Turn on the stirrer for the solution in the feed tank (A switch at the top of the
electronic board)
• Start the automatic solenoid sequence (A switch on the electronic board)
• Turn on the drain wash valve (to the left of the evaporator column)
• Start the vacuum pump (The switch is in the pump room to the west of the
equipment. Ensure the water supply to the vacuum pump is first turned on)
• Establish a vacuum in the evaporator (By setting the switches on the electronic
board to close the line to the atmosphere and open the line from the equipment to
the vacuum)
• Turn on the feed pump, and set it to the desired feed rate (A switch on the board
turns it on, a dial indicates the pumping rate)
• Open the cooling water inlet valve to the condenser (This is the red handled valve
on the right of the equipment)
• Open the supply valve to turn on the instrument air for the steam valve controller
(This is a yellow handled switch on the blue air line to the right of the equipment)
• Open the manual steam valve (A green valve to the right of the evaporator)
• Open the orifice plate tapping valves
• Turn on the steam differential pressure transducer and set to the desired steam rate
(A switch on the electronic board turns it on, a dial indicates the steam feed rate)

Shut Down:

• Close the automatic steam valve


• Close the manual steam valve
• Close the instrument air supply valve
• Turn off the feed pump
• Turn off the stirrer for the feed tank
• Close the condenser cooling water valve (some minutes after shutting off the
steam)
• Close the orifice plate tapping valves
• Bring the evaporator to atmospheric pressure
• Turn off the vacuum pump and its water supply
• Turn off the drain wash valve
• Turn off the automatic solenoid sequence
• Turn off all the sensing and control gear

Experimental
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• The experiment is scheduled to start at 1:30pm. On arrival a short tour of the


apparatus and operating procedures will be given. Experimental data of the plant
is included in the briefing sheet, which can be combined with the results taken.

• Ensure that the concentration of the sugar solution in the feed tank is between 5
and 7 percent. A refractometer is to be used to measure the concentration of the
sugar solution.

• The steam supply rate and feed flow rate are to be varied to set up an experiment.
The evaporator requires approximately 30 minutes to reach steady state. This
suggests that data for eight experimental runs could be obtained during the
laboratory session.

• To avoid damaging the equipment, it is advised to operate the equipment within


the following boundaries:

20

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1.5 4
Steam Supply (mA )

• It is estimated that it requires thirty minutes for the equipment to achieve steady
state after an input has been changed. Initially results need not be recorded, but
after approximately 15 minutes results should be taken to determine when steady
state is reached. The necessary readings are:

♦ the concentration of the product sugar solution


♦ the weight of the product sugar solution
♦ the time taken for the sample to be produced

This will allow the calculation of the profit for the relative feed rate and steam
supply rate values.

• From the profit obtained, perform an EVOP on the plant, and continue EVOP
steps, each time choosing new steam and feed rates to move towards the optimum
(you will have to choose profit per unit mass or profit per unit time criteria for
this).

• At the end of the experiment ensure that everything (including the floor) is cleaned
up. This also includes running clean water through the system to wash out any left
over sugar crystals. This is achieved by closing the feed tank and connecting the
water tank. If the cleaning up is ignored, a maximum of 20% of the final report
mark may be deducted.

The Report
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An appropriate method (preferably least squares - refer to the information on it


contained in the briefing sheet) should be used to determine the regression equation
using the profit ($) in terms of steam supply and feed rate (mass flow rates rather than
mA). Included in this should be your experimental results and the extra data included
in this briefing sheet.

Use solver to determine the optimum profit of the regression equation.

Discuss any discrepancies between the mass balance results.

Pre-Lab Calculations

• Three calibration graphs need to be plotted. They are as follows:

The pump injection rate is controlled by an inbuilt sensor receiving a 4-20mA


signal to vary the number of pump strokes per minute over a range of 4-80
(assume relationship is linear).

The steam flow is controlled by a controller which receives a 1-5mA signal


and converts it to a 3-15psi signal. This is the valve top pressure (VTP) which
moves inside a pneumatic valve to adjust the flow of steam (assume
relationship is linear).

The relationship between the valve top pressure and the flow of steam can be
calculated from the following data (Plot data before the lab).

VTP (psi) Flow (kgs-1)


3.00 0.00413
3.77 0.00477
5.34 0.00578
6.00 0.00625
6.92 0.00716
8.00 0.00847
8.40 0.00934
9.64 0.0134
10.91 0.0175
11.90 0.0189
12.60 0.0202
14.20 0.0202

• Use the poster detailing the apparatus to help identify the various components (it is
somewhat out of date) and produce a line diagram of the equipment. (The poster
is located next to the climbing film evaporator in the semi scale laboratory).

• Produce a profit equation for each scenario (profit per unit mass and profit per unit
time) from the information supplied. This is essential to be able to use the simplex
method of optimisation during the lab.

• Prepare a table for recording the results and calculating the profits.
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Application of the Least Squares Method of Fitting an Equation to Data

Fitting an Equation

This section assumes a basic knowledge of the Least Squares Method. Consult a
statistics test if a revision is necessary.

Let x1 = Steam Data


x2 = Feed Data
y = Profit Data

It is first necessary to propose an equation that may describe the experimental results.

y = β 0 + β 1 x1 + β 2 x 2 + β 3 x1 x 2 + β 4 x12 + β 5 x 2 2 + β 6 x12 x 2 + β 7 x1 x 2 2
+ β 8 x 1 2 x 2 2 + ....

It is important that this fitted model is not assumed to be correct. Some form of
statistical evaluation or performance measure is necessary for this model to be
accepted. There are many applicable methods, such as:
- Residual plots
- Lack of fit testing
- Significance of parameters
In a real situation it is recommended that all the tests are investigated. The
significance of parameters method of testing is described following.

The first step to determine whether a term of the equation is necessary for accuracy is
to fit a reduced form of the model. It is initially recommended that the β3, β6, β7 and
β8 terms be set to zero. The coefficients (ie. the β terms) can be determined by the
following equation.

β = (X' .X) -1 .(X'.y)


Matlab or Excel can be used to perform the matrix calculations.

X is the matrix of the results placed into the equation.


[
ie. X = 1 x 1 x 2 x 1 x 2 x 1 2 x 2 2 x 1 2 x 2 x 1 x 2 2 x 1 2 x 2 2 ... ]
This matrix has as many rows as there are results (if there were eight result runs
performed, the matrix would have eight rows, ie: each column has eight entries).

X` is the transpose of X. The dots signify the dot product, for example the dot
product of X and X`.

Y is the profit matrix. It is a 1 x P matrix where P is the number of result runs.

This allows the profit equation to be graphed with respect to the steam supply rate
and the feed flow rate. A three dimensional surface can be plotted to determine the
most profitable operating point. (For clarity, position all the points x1i, x2i on the x1
vs x2 chart and write their profits beside them; attempt a rough contour map).
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Testing the Equation for Accuracy

To test the accuracy of this equation, calculate the residual sum of squares each time
another term is added to the equation and test whether the difference is significant (ie.
whether the residual error variance has been significantly reduced by adding the new
term).

It is recommended that the five term expression of the equation, β0 to β5 excluding the
β3 term, be initially used. The β3 term can then be added and then the β6 term and so
on. The residual variance is calculated by:

Se 2 5 = Residual Error Variance for Five Terms

∑ i =1 (y i - y i ) 2
n

=
n − p −1

where n = the number of experimental runs


p = the number of variables (x1, x2, x12, x22 …)
yi = the actual profit for experimental run i
yi = the theoretical profit for experimental run i

Then add the β3 term and calculate the new residual variance.

Se 2 6 = Residual Error Variance for Six Terms

∑i=1 (y i - y i ) 2
n

=
n − p −1

Then make the hypothesis that no improvement has been made by calculating:

Se 2 5 - Se 2 6
F0 =
Se 2 6
and comparing this value to

Fα (1, n - p - 1)

If F0 > Fα then a significant improvement has been made and it was worthwhile
including the β3 term. Continue this process until it is no longer necessary to include
any further terms.

Note: This can be calculated by Matlab. To calculate the sum of squares calculate y
= βX. For the residual sum of squares, calculate SSE = (yi-yi)’.(yi-yi)

When satisfied with the model, list the residuals yi - yi alongside each point on the x1
vs x2 plot. These should be randomly + or -.
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Last modified 2/3/06

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