Plate Evaporation Concentration System

Working Principle

Heat Exchange Process: The plate evaporation and concentration system consists of a plate heat exchanger and a separator. The product and heating medium flow counter-currently in their respective channels. Due to the special corrugated embossing, high-intensity turbulence is generated, resulting in a significantly improved heat transfer coefficient compared to traditional shell-and-tube evaporators. The liquid feed enters the evaporator through the inlet at the bottom of the unit. As the liquid flows over the plates in the channels, steam in another channel heats the plates, causing the liquid to evaporate.

Vacuum-Liquid Separation: Heated steam rises through the channels, and the vapor-liquid mixture leaves the plate heat exchanger and enters the vapor-liquid separator. The mixture is separated into vapor and liquid; the former exits from the top outlet, and the latter flows out from the bottom outlet of the separator.

Multi-Effect Evaporation: The system can employ multi-effect evaporation, such as double-effect or triple-effect evaporation, to improve thermal efficiency. The secondary steam generated in the first effect can be used as heating steam for the second effect, and the secondary steam generated in the second effect can be used as heating steam for the third effect.

Advantages

High Evaporation Efficiency: Achieves evaporation rates of 100-300 kg/h·m², a significant improvement over traditional tubular evaporators.

Short Residence Time: The residence time of the processed material on the evaporation surface is extremely short (approximately ±10 seconds), effectively reducing the risk of deterioration, coking, or scaling caused by prolonged heating.

Low-Temperature Evaporation: Can operate under vacuum conditions, allowing evaporation at lower temperatures, which is particularly advantageous for heat-sensitive materials or energy-efficient processes.

Flexible Operation: Suitable for continuous production processes, offering significant operational flexibility; operating parameters can be adjusted according to actual needs.

Compact Structure: Compact design with short connecting pipelines and a small overall height, reaching a maximum of only 34 meters.

Easy Maintenance: The plate assembly is easy to open for cleaning and maintenance.

Application Scenarios

• Food Industry: Used for the evaporation and concentration of dairy products (such as cheese, milk powder, etc.), the dealcoholization or concentration of fruit juice and red wine, and the separation and purification of other food components.

• Pharmaceutical Industry: In processes such as drug extraction, concentration of traditional Chinese medicine extracts, and refining of biological products, plate evaporators ensure the thermal stability of products while meeting stringent hygiene standards and GMP regulations.

• Chemical Industry: Evaporation, degradation, or concentration of various organic solvents, phenolphthalein, and other chemicals serves the fields of fine chemicals and environmental treatment.

• Energy and Environmental Protection: In waste heat recovery systems, plate evaporators can be used for the condensation of waste heat steam or for the evaporation, concentration, and volume reduction processes in wastewater treatment, achieving efficient resource utilization and environmental protection.

System Components:

• Effect Plate Heat Exchangers: Used for heat exchange processes.

• Effect Separators: Used to separate steam and liquid.

• Condenser: Used to condense secondary steam.

• Vacuum and Drainage System: Used to maintain the vacuum state within the system and discharge condensate.

• Infeed and Discharge Pumps: Used to transport materials.

• Electrical Instrumentation, Control Systems, Valves, and Piping: Used to achieve automated system control and material transport.

Plate evaporation and concentration systems are widely used in many industries due to their speed, energy saving, and flexible operation, and are especially suitable for occasions with high requirements for product quality, energy consumption and production efficiency.