Evaporation

• Method of concentration by boiling

• Food stuff contains more water than is required in final product

• Partial removal of water from liquid foods by boiling off water

vapour

• Increases solids content of a food

• Preserves the food by a reduction in water activity

• Used to preconcentrate foods prior to drying, freezing or

sterilization
– Fruit juice, milk and coffee

• Liquid – Apply heat to evaporate it

 Evaporation
• Unit operation employed to remove water from
dilute liquid foods to obtain concentrated liquid
products.

• Removal of water provides microbiological

stability

• Eg: Manufacture of Tomato paste (35-37% total

solids)

• Final products remains in liquid state.

 Merits & Demerits
• To reduce the weight and volume

• Saves energy in subsequent operations and reduces

storage, transport and distribution costs

• Greater convenience of the consumer and the

manufacturer
– Fruit drinks, concentrated soups, tomato paste

• Changes to food quality due to severe heat treatment are

minimized by the design and operation of the equipment

• More expensive in energy consumption than other

methods of concentration viz. membrane concentration
and freeze concentration
 Principal functions
• To exchange heat

• To separate the vapour i.e. formed from

liquid
 Practical considerations in evaporation

• Maximum allowable temperature should be below 100°C

• Promotion of circulation of liquid across the heat transfer

surfaces
– to attain reasonably high heat transfer coefficient
– To prevent overheating

• Viscosity of the fluid will increase as the concentration of

the dissolved material increases

• Any tendency to foam which makes separation of liquid

& vapour difficult
 Heat transfer in evaporators
• Governed by the equations for heat transfer to boiling liquids and by
conduction and convection equations

• Heat must be provided from a source at a suitable temperature & mostly steam

• Steam comes either directly from a boiler or from a previous stage of

evaporator in another evaporator

• Objection to other forms of heating viz., direct firing and electrical resistance
heater

• In some cases, temperature of condensing steam may be too high for the
product & warm water may be used.

• Low pressure steam can also be used but the large volumes create design
problems

• Circulation of liquid within evaporator is important as this affects heat transfer

rate

• Higher rates of evaporation result from better circulation

 Theory
• Sensible heat is transferred from steam to food
– to raise the temperature to the boiling point of food

• Latent heat of evaporation is then supplied by

the steam
– to form bubbles of vapour which leave the surface of
boiling liquid

• Rate of evaporation is determined by

– rate of heat transfer into the food
– rate of mass transfer of vapour from the food
 Heat & Mass balance
• Mass balance
– Mass of feed entering the evaporator equals the mass
of product & vapour removed from evaporator
water : mf (1-Xf) = mp (1-Xp) + mv
Solutes : mf Xf = mp Xp
– Total mass balance is mf = mp + mv
• Heat balance
Amount of heat given up by the condensing steam =
Amount of heat used to raise the feed temperature to
boiling point & then to boil off the vapour
Q = ms  s
Q = mf Cp (b – f) + mv v
• mf – mass transfer rate of feed (kg/s)
• mp - mass transfer rate of product (kg/s)
• mv – mass transfer rate of vapour produced (kg/s)
• Xf – Solids fraction of feed
• X p – solids fraction of product
• Cp – Specific heat (kcal/kg°C)
• s – Latent heat of condensing steam (kcal/kg)
• v – Latent heat of vapourization of water (kcal/kg)
• b – Boiling Temperature of feed (°C)
• f – Initial temperature of feed (°C)
• Heat supplied by steam = Sensible heat +
Latent heat of vapour
• Rate of heat transfer across evaporator
walls & boundary films is found using
equation
Q = U A (s - b )
– For the majority of an evaporation process,
• the rate of heat transfer is the controlling factor
• the rate of mass transfer only becomes important
when the liquor becomes highly concentrated.
 Factors influencing the rate of heat transfer
• Temperature difference between the steam & boiling liquor
– To increase the temperature of steam or to reduce temperature of
boiling liquor by evaporating under partial vacuum
– Temp. difference becomes smaller as foods become more concentrated
owing to elevation of boiling point & rate of heat transfer falls as
evaporation proceeds
• Deposits of heat transfer surfaces
– Fouling of evaporating surfaces reduces the rate of heat transfer
– Depends on temp. difference between food and heated surface and
viscosity
– For eg. Denaturation of proteins cause the food to burn on to hot
surface
– Fouling is reduced by continuously removing the food from evaporator
walls
• Boundary films
– A film of stationary liquid at evaporator walls is often the main resistance
to heat transfer
– Thickness is reduced by promoting mechanical turbulence
 Factors influencing the economics of
evaporation
• Loss of concentrate or product quality

– Product losses caused by foaming due to proteins

and carbohydrates in the food

– Causes inefficient separation of vapour and

concentrate

– Entrainment – fine mist of concentrate is produced

and carried out of the evaporator by vapour
High energy consumption
• A substantial amount of energy is needed to remove water from
foods by boiling – 2257 kJ per kg of water evaporated at 100°C

• Energy can be saved by reusing heat contained in vapours

produced from the boiling food by

1. Vapour recompression
– Pressure of vapour is increased using a mechanical compressor
– High pressure steam is used as a heating medium
2. Preheating
– Vapour is used to heat the incoming feed liquor
– Condensed vapour is used to raise steam in a boiler
3. Multiple effect evaporation
– Several evaporators are connected together
– Vapour from one effect is used directly as the heating medium in the
next
– No. of effects is determined by the savings in energy consumption
compared with high capital investment required
– Three to six effects used in majority of applications
 Evaporator
• Made up from 3 functional sections

• All three sections are contained in a single vertical cylinder

• Centre – steam heated section with pipes passing through it in which

evaporating liquors rise

• Top – Baffles which allow vapours to escape but check liquid droplets
which may accompany vapours

• Heat exchanger
– Known as calandria
– Transfers heat from steam to the food

• Separator
– Separating the vapours produced by the boiling liquid

• Condenser
 Function of heat exchanger
• Steam condenses in the jacket & the liquid being evaporated boils on the
inside of the tubes.

• Transfer heat from low pressure steam to the product.

• Product inside the evaporation chamber is kept under vacuum.

• Presence of vacuum causes the temperature difference between steam and

product to increase and the product boils at relatively low temperatures,
minimizing heat damage.

• Vapours produced are conveyed through a condenser to a vacuum system

• Steam condenses inside the heat exchanger and the condensate is discarded.

• Circulation of the liquid greatly affects evaporation rates

• As evaporation proceeds, liquid becomes more concentrated

 Single effect evaporator

Multiple effect evaporator

Design of single effect evaporator

Design of triple effect evaporator

 Considerations for the selection of an
evaporator
• Operating capacity ( as kg of water removed per hour)

• Degree of concentration required (% of dry solids in the product)

• Heat sensitivity of the product in relation to residence

time & temperature of evaporation

• Ease of cleaning

• Reliability and simplicity of operation

• Size of the evaporator in relation to its capacity

• Capital & operating costs in relation to capacity & product quality

 Multiple effect evaporation
• Methods of feeding

– Forward feed

– Reverse feed or backward feed

– Mixed feed

– Parallel feed
 Forward feed
• Advantages
– Least expensive
– Simple to operate
– No feed pumps required between effects
– Lower temperatures with subsequent effects
– Less risk of heat damage to more viscous
product
a. Forward feed
b. Reverse feed or backward feed
 Limitations
• Reduced heat transfer rate as the feed becomes
more viscous

• Rate of evaporation falls with each effect

• Feed must be introduced at boiling point to

prevent loss of economy

• If steam supplies sensible heat, less vapour is

available for subsequent effect
 Reverse feed
• Advantages
– No feed pump initially
– Best quality steam used on the most difficult material
to concentrate
– Better economy and heat transfer rate as effects are
not subjected to variation in feed temperature
• Limitations
– Interstage pumps necessary
– Higher risk of heat damage to viscous products as
liquor moves more slowly over hotter surfaces
– Risk of fouling
 Mixed feed
• Advantages
– Simplicity of forward feed
– Economy of backward feed
– Useful for very viscous foods

• Limitations
– More complex and expensive
C. Parallel feed
D. Mixed feed
 Parallel feed
• Advantages
– For crystal production, allows greater control
over crystallization
– Prevents the need to pump crystal slurries
• Limitations
– Most complex and expensive of the
arrangements
– Extraction pumps required for each effect
Factors affecting rate of evaporation

• Rate at which heat can be transferred to liquid

• Quantity of heat required to evaporate each kg

of water

• Pressure at which evaporation takes place

• Any changes which may occur in food stuff

during evaporation process