Evaporation with self-cleaning
Evaporation is a key process step in many industries. It is used for product concentration, volume reduction, solvent recovery, and water treatment. At the same time, fouling and scaling on heat transfer surfaces lead to major operational challenges. Deposits reduce the heat transfer capacity, increase the energy consumption, and result in more frequent cleaning cycles and unplanned shutdowns. The Klaren Evaporator from Taprogge combines tried-and-tested evaporation technology with our integrated self-cleaning technology. In this way, it ensures a consistently high heat transfer capacity, minimizes fouling, and allows for reliable long-term operation even under demanding process conditions.
How it works
The Klaren Evaporator is a vertically arranged heat exchanger in which liquid to be treated flows upward through the evaporator tubes while the heat is supplied on the shell side. Heat is transferred via the tube walls to the liquid, which heats up. The evaporation then takes place in a downstream separating zone at reduced pressure. This creates vapor and concentrates the remaining liquid.
A self-cleaning mechanism with a fluidized bed of cleaning particles is integrated on the tube side in order to prevent fouling. The upward flow of the liquid (to be evaporated) keeps the particles in motion and generates a continuous, gentle scouring effect along the tube walls. This prevents deposits from forming and removes fouling at an early stage. A specially designed and engineered distributor system provides for a uniform flow and particle distribution across all tubes. This ensures stable operation and a consistently high cleaning performance even under changing load conditions.
Operational benefits
The combination of stable heat transfer and continuous self-cleaning produces clear benefits in ongoing operation:
- Stable heat transfer capacity
Constantly high heat transfer coefficients ensure reliable and predictable evaporation rates. - Prevention of fouling and scaling
Deposits are continuously removed before they can hamper performance. - Lower cleaning and maintenance workload
Online cleaning reduces manual cleaning intervals and decreases downtimes as well as operating costs. - Higher plant availability
Stable operation reduces unplanned shutdowns and increases availability and process reliability. - Longer service life for the components
Less scaling reduces the thermal and mechanical stress on the heat transfer components. - Resource-efficient operation
The reduced use of cleaning chemicals and water contributes to more sustainable plant operation.
Versatile in use
Klaren Evaporator
The Klaren Evaporator can be used as a standalone unit and as part of larger evaporation systems, for example in MEE or MVR plants. It is especially well suited for process steps in which there is a high risk of fouling and stable heat transfer is essential. Its self-cleaning design also ensures reliable operation and consistently high performance even under demanding process conditions.
Typical fields of application include
- Industrial waste water from the chemical, agrochemical, and pharmaceutical industry
- High-salinity media and RO concentrates
- Waste water from textile and dye production
- Process water in the food and drinks industry
- Waste water from mining and metallurgy
- Industrial brines and complex process liquids
