Introduction to forced circulation evaporator
A forced circulation evaporator is an evaporation device that uses external power (such as a circulation pump) to forcibly push the material liquid to circulate in the heating tube. Compared with a natural circulation evaporator, its significant features are high material liquid flow rate and high heat transfer efficiency, especially suitable for processing high viscosity, scaling prone, crystallization prone or heat sensitive materials.
1、 Basic structure
The core components of a forced circulation evaporator include:
Heating chamber: composed of multiple upright heating tubes, with steam (or other heat sources) flowing outside the tubes and heated liquid inside the tubes.
Circulating pump: installed on the pipeline between the outlet of the heating chamber and the separator, it is the power source for forced circulation, which can achieve a liquid flow rate of 1.5-3.5m/s (much higher than natural circulation).
Separators (evaporation chambers): After absorbing heat in the heating chamber, the feed liquid enters the separator. Due to the sudden expansion of space and the decrease in pressure, the moisture in the feed liquid quickly evaporates into secondary steam, and the feed liquid and steam are separated here.
Defoamer: located at the top of the separator, used to capture liquid droplets carried in the secondary steam and reduce material loss.
Condenser: For the secondary steam discharged from the condenser separator, if solvent recovery is required, a closed condensation system can be used.
2、 Working principle
Under the action of the circulation pump, the liquid enters the heating tube of the heating chamber at high speed, absorbs the heat from the external heat source (such as saturated steam), and the temperature rises.
The heated liquid (not reaching boiling point) is pressed into the separator, and due to the lower pressure inside the separator compared to the heating chamber, the liquid instantly boils and the water evaporates into secondary steam.
After being purified by the demister, the secondary steam enters the condenser for condensation, and the concentrated liquid is then pushed back into the heating chamber by the circulation pump to form a cycle.
When the concentration of the feed solution reaches the required level, some of the concentrated solution is discharged from the system, and new feed solution is added to maintain continuous operation.
3、 Main features
High heat transfer efficiency: The high-speed flowing liquid can effectively destroy the boundary layer of the heating tube wall, reduce thermal resistance, and increase the heat transfer coefficient by 30% -50% compared to natural circulation evaporators.
Strong anti scaling and anti crystallization ability: High flow rate can flush the heating tube wall, reducing the deposition of materials on the tube wall, suitable for handling easily crystallized materials such as salt solution and sugar solution.
Suitable for high viscosity materials: For materials with viscosity between 0.05-0.5Pa · s (such as tomato sauce and juice), it can still maintain good circulation effect.
Flexible operation: By adjusting the flow rate of the circulation pump, it can adapt to changes in material characteristics and evaporation loads.
High energy consumption: Circulating pumps require additional power and have slightly higher operating costs than natural circulation evaporators.
4、 Applicable scenarios
Forced circulation evaporators are widely used in the following fields:
Chemical industry: Processing easily crystallized solutions such as caustic soda, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, etc.
Food industry: concentrated tomato sauce, fruit juice, starch slurry and other high viscosity materials (temperature control should be taken into account to avoid damage from heat sensitive components).
Pharmaceutical industry: evaporating traditional Chinese medicine extracts, antibiotic fermentation liquids, etc. can reduce material denaturation by reducing heating temperature differences.
Environmental protection industry: treating high concentration organic wastewater, saline wastewater, etc., achieving water evaporation and solid-liquid separation