UNOCHB2 Unit Operations 2B BET

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT (FEBE)

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

UNOCHB2: UNIT OPERATIONS 2B

TUTORIAL 4- Evaporation

1. A single effect evaporator is to be used to concentrate a food solution containing 8%

(by mass) dissolved solids to 30% solids. The feed stream enters the evaporator at 290
K with a feed rate of 1.0 kg s−1. Steam is available at a pressure of 240 kPa and an
absolute pressure of 7 kPa is maintained in the evaporator. Assuming that the
properties of the solution are the same as those of water (cp = 4.14 kJ/kg∙K), and
taking the overall heat transfer coefficient to be 2400 W m−2K−1, calculate the rate of
steam consumption and the necessary heat transfer surface area.

[Ans: S= 0.85 kg/s, A = 8.8 m2]

2. In order to concentrate 4536 kg/h of an NaOH solution containing 10 wt% NaOH to

20 wt % solution, a single-effect evaporator is being used with an area of 37.6 m2.
The feed enters at 21.1oC. Saturated steam at 110oC is used for heating and the
preassure in vapour space of the evaporator is 51.7 kPa.
(a) Determine the boiling temperature of the solution and boiling-point rise for a 30%
NaOH solution boiling in an evaporator at a pressure of 172.4 kPa.
(b) Calculate the amount of steam used in kg/h and the overall heat-transfer
coefficient.

[Ans: BPR=15 𝒐 𝑪 , 𝑼 = 𝟐𝟐𝟒𝟗 𝑾/𝒎𝟐 𝑲]

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UNOCHB2 Unit Operations 2B BET

3. Explain the principle of evaporation.

4. Describe what is meant by the BPRboiling point rise.
5. A forward feed triple-effect evaporator is used to concentrate a 10 % sugar solution to
50 %. The BPR's can be estimated from the following equation:
BPR(°C) = 1.78 X +6.22 X2
where X is the mass fraction of sugar in solution. Saturated steam is available at 205
kPa (abs) and the pressure in the vapour space of the effect 3 is 13 kPa (abs). The
feed rate is 22 680 kg/ h at 27°C. The heat capacity of the solution is given as Cp =
4.19 – 2.35 X (kJ/kg K). The heat of the solution is negligible. The overall heat
transfer coefficients are estimated as U1 = 3.123; U2 = 1.987 and U3 = 1.136 kW/ m2
K.
If the heat transfer surfaces are the same in all three effects, calculate the area of the
effects, the amount of steam required and the overall steam economy.

[Ans: A=107m2, S= 8653 kg/h, steam economy=2.09]

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