Heat Transfer in the Chemical, Food and Pharmaceutical Industries

Heat Transfer in the Chemical, Food and Pharmaceutical Industries

Jean-Paul Duroudier

Industrial Equipment for Chemical Engineering Set

coordinated by

Jean-Paul Duroudier

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Dedication

Copyright

Preface

1: Rotary Calcination Kiln: Heat Exchange by Radiation

Abstract

1.1 General points

1.2 Description

1.3 Heat transfer by radiation: basic concepts

1.4 Heat transfer in rotary calcination kilns

2: Tubular Heat Exchangers and Flat-plate Heat Exchangers

Abstract

2.1 Description of exchangers

2.2 Calculations on the tube side

2.3 Calculations on shell side

2.4 Practical data

2.5 Plate exchangers

3: Finned Tube Exchangers

Abstract

3.1 General points

3.2 Technical data

3.3 Fin efficiency

3.4 Other thermal parameters

3.5 Determining geometry

3.6 Simulation and direct calculation

3.7 Fans

3.8 Implementation of air coolers

4: Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers, Spherulation Towers and Solidification on a Moving Surface

Abstract

4.1 General points

4.2 Types of scraped surface heat exchanger

4.3 Spherulation towers

4.4 Continuous solidification on a moving surface

5: Efficiency of Single-phase Heat Exchangers: Fouling

Abstract

5.1 Number of transfer units and efficiency

5.2 Fouling

6: Condensers, Traps and Condensate Lines

Abstract

6.1 Surface condensers

6.2 Overcooling of the condensate

6.3 Contact condensers

6.4 Trap types

6.5 Trap selection and assembly

6.6 Condensate lines

7: Boiling and Heat Transfer

Abstract

7.1 Stagnant boiling

7.2 Convective boiling

8: Thermosiphon Reboilers

Abstract

8.1 Manual method

8.2 Computerized method

8.3 Operational stability of thermosiphon reboilers (breathing)

9: Concentrating Solutions by Vaporization

Abstract

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Boiling delay

9.3 Multiple-effect evaporation

9.4 Vapor recompression

9.5 Description, choice and calculation of evaporators

10: Falling Film Vaporizer (Evaporator)

Abstract

10.1 General points

10.2 Tube wetting

10.3 Vapor velocity in the tubes

10.4 Heat transfer

10.5 Distribution plate

10.6 Dimensioning an evaporator

11: Heat Transfer in Stirred Tanks

Abstract

11.1 Coil transfer

11.2 Coefficient for the reactor wall

11.3 Viscous fluids: laminar regime

11.4 Thermal conditioning of tanks and reservoirs

12: Cooling or Heating of Simple-form Solids and Plant Products: Blanching

Abstract

12.1 Thermal conditioning of simple-form compact solids

12.2 Thermal conditioning of simple-form solids: semi-empirical study

12.3 Thermal conditioning and hydrothermal processing

13: Thermal Insulation of Piping: Tracing

Abstract

13.1 Thermal insulation

13.2 Pipe tracing

14: Combustion and Sulfur Dew Point

Abstract

14.1 Characteristics of combustion

14.2 SO3 content and dew point

15: Heat Supply by Microwave or Infrared Radiation

Abstract

15.1 Microwave heating (theory)

15.2 Microwave heating (practical)

15.3 Infrared drying

16: Freezing, Deep-freezing and Thawing

Abstract

16.1 Introduction

16.2 Industrial freezing apparatus

16.3 Freezing time (Planck’s equation [PLA 41])

16.4 Freezing time: practical method

16.5 Thawing

17: Freeze-drying

Abstract

17.1 General points

17.2 Thermodynamics of freeze-drying

17.3 Migration equations

17.4 Simulation of freeze-drying

Appendix 1: Characteristics of Exchanger Tubes

Appendix 2: Resistance, Conductance, Diffusance

Bibliography

Index

Dedication

There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science. Louis Pasteur (11 September 1871)

Dedicated to my wife, Anne, without whose unwavering support, none of this would have been possible.

Copyright

First published 2016 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Press Ltd and Elsevier Ltd

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

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Elsevier Ltd

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

For information on all our publications visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/

© ISTE Press Ltd 2016

The rights of Jean-Paul Duroudier to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN 978-1-78548-188-8

Printed and bound in the UK and US

Preface

The observation is often made that, in creating a chemical installation, the time spent on the recipient where the reaction takes place (the reactor) accounts for no more than 5% of the total time spent on the project. This series of books deals with the remaining 95% (with the exception of oil-fired furnaces).

It is conceivable that humans will never understand all the truths of the world. What is certain, though, is that we can and indeed must understand what we and other humans have done and created, and, in particular, the tools we have designed.

Even two thousand years ago, the saying existed: faber fit fabricando, which, loosely translated, means: "c’est en forgeant que l’on devient forgeron" (a popular French adage: one becomes a smith by smithing), or, still more freely translated into English, practice makes perfect. The artisan (faber) of the 21st Century is really the engineer who devises or describes models of thought. It is precisely that which this series of books investigates, the author having long combined industrial practice and reflection about world research.

Scientific and technical research in the 20th century was characterized by a veritable explosion of results. Undeniably, some of the techniques discussed herein date back a very long way (for instance, the mixture of water and ethanol has been being distilled for over a millennium). Today, though, computers are needed to simulate the operation of the atmospheric distillation column of an oil refinery. The laws used may be simple statistical correlations but, sometimes, simple reasoning is enough to account for a phenomenon.

Since our very beginnings on this planet, humans have had to deal with the four primordial elements as they were known in the ancient world: earth, water, air and fire (and a fifth: aether). Today, we speak of gases, liquids, minerals and vegetables, and finally energy.

The unit operation expressing the behavior of matter are described in thirteen volumes.

It would be pointless, as popular wisdom has it, to try to reinvent the wheel – i.e. go through prior results. Indeed, we well know that all human reflection is based on memory, and it has been said for centuries that every generation is standing on the shoulders of the previous one.

Therefore, exploiting numerous references taken from all over the world, this series of books describes the operation, the advantages, the drawbacks and, especially, the choices needing to be made for the various pieces of equipment used in tens of elementary operations in industry. It presents simple calculations but also sophisticated logics which will help businesses avoid lengthy and costly testing and trial-and-error.

Herein, readers will find the methods needed for the understanding the machinery, even if, sometimes, we must not shy away from complicated calculations. Fortunately, engineers are trained in computer science, and highly-accurate machines are available on the market, which enables the operator or designer to, themselves, build the programs they need. Indeed, we have to be careful in using commercial programs with obscure internal logic which are not necessarily well suited to the problem at hand.

The copies of all the publications used in this book were provided by the Institut National d’Information Scientifique et Technique at Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy.

The books published in France can be consulted at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; those from elsewhere are available at the British Library in London.

In the in-chapter bibliographies, the name of the author is specified so as to give each researcher his/her due. By consulting these works, readers may gain more in-depth knowledge about each subject if he/she so desires. In a reflection of today’s multilingual world, the references to which this series points are in German, French and English.

The problems of optimization of costs have not been touched upon. However, when armed with a good knowledge of the devices’ operating parameters, there is no problem with using the method of steepest descent so as to minimize the sum of the investment and operating expenditure.

1

Rotary Calcination Kiln: Heat Exchange by Radiation

Abstract

Calcination is the thermal dehydration of a metal hydroxide or of a salt. Cement kilns are not, technically speaking, calcination kilns, but the same technique is used.

Keywords

Fill ratio; Gas heating; Grain breaking; Heat transfer; Kirchoff’s law for surfaces; Lining; Radiation; Radiosity; Rotary Calcination Kiln; Transfer mechanism

1.1 General points

1.1.1 Purpose of calcination kilns

Calcination is the thermal dehydration of a metal hydroxide or of a salt. Cement kilns are not, technically speaking, calcination kilns, but the same technique is used.

1.1.2 Specific characteristics of heat transfer

In this case, heat is not transferred by convection, but rather by radiation; the wall of the kiln, which is heated using gas, transfers this heat to the product at points where direct contact occurs due to the rotation of the kiln. This regeneration effect may represent between 30% and 40% of the overall transfer of heat to the product. This transfer will be considered separately.

1.1.3 Gas heating in kilns

Dryers and kilns differ in terms of the temperature of the gas entering the assembly. If the gas is at a temperature lower than 400 °C, the assembly is referred to as a dryer. If the gas is at a temperature above 400 °C, the assembly is known as a calcination or roasting kiln.

The method used to heat the gas depends on the desired temperature. For temperatures up to 200 °C, the gas is generally air, steam-heated using a finned tube exchanger. From 550 °C to 1,500 °C, smoke from burning natural gas, oil or powdered coal is used. The temperature may be adjusted to a point anywhere between 200 °C and the fuel flame temperature by the introduction of cold air.

1.2 Description

1.2.1 Basic principle of the kiln

A rotary drum device (dryer or kiln) consists of a cylindrical shell turning on an axis (which is set at a slight inclination in relation to the horizontal plane). The divided material gradually moves down to the lower end of the kiln.

The shell is driven using a ring gear engaged with a motorized pinion. The drum is held in place using support treads and rollers.

Dryer shells consist of a simple steel sheet, generally fitted with lifting blades. These blades collect material, before scattering it through the gas current, improving contact between the solid and the gas, as we shall see below. The number of lifting blades in a dryer varies from 5 to 10 D (where D is the diameter of the shell, expressed in meters). However, the shells used in calcination kilns are lined with refractory bricks, which both provide thermal protection for the metal wall and insulate the hot gas/product mixture. This lining is usually around 0.15 m in thickness. The thermal conductivity of refractory bricks is generally of the order of 3.5 W/m− 1/°C− 1.

Generally, the diameter of the shell varies between 30 cm and approximately 4 m, i.e. between 2% and 20% of the length of the drum. The horizontal inclination varies from 0.02 to 0.06 m/m.

For safety reasons, the drum runs at a negative pressure of between 2 and 20 Pa, and a variety of equipment are used to maintain a complete seal between fixed and mobile elements.

Figure 1.1 Rotary kiln

1.2.2 Gas circulation in the kiln

The bulk flow density of the gas varies between 0.3 and 5 kg of gas per second, per square meter of the cross-section of the kiln.

Gas may circulate in the same or opposite direction to the product.

At first glance, a counter-current system, in which gas circulates in the opposite direction to the product, might be expected to have a higher level of thermal efficiency than a co-current system, in which the gas and product circulate in the same direction. For this reason, the gas is always circulated in the opposite direction to the product in calcination kilns.

For drying purposes, however, a co-current gas flow may be used, which enables the use of hotter gas without any danger to the product. At high temperatures, less gas is required, reducing heat loss through the exhaust.

Furthermore, in certain cases, a co-current gas flow is strong enough to transport the smallest solid particles via a pneumatic effect. These particles are thus rapidly removed from the dryer, avoiding degradation.

In practical terms, to ensure that dust is collected before it has chance to settle, the speed of the gas in the exhaust conduit must be approximately 30 m.s− 1.

Inversely, we may wish to design a kiln in such a way that the finest particles will not be transported.

Considering that, in a turbulent regime, the weight of a particle balances out the air friction, we obtain the following maximum speed:

For this problem, we shall take:

Furthermore, considering ρa to be negligible in relation to ρs, we obtain:

Or, in terms of the maximum value of the mass flow density of the gas:

ρa and ρs: bulk densities of the solid and air (kg.m− 3)

dp: diameter of particles (m)

ϕGM: maximum flow density (kg.m− 2.s− 1)

Example 1.1

The value used in practice is 60% of this limit, i.e.:

1.2.3 Support

The support system, made up of treads and rollers, may be fine-tuned in a number of different ways. The kiln is set at an inclination in relation to the horizontal plane, and to avoid movement, the rollers are adjusted along an axis set at an angle α in relation to the drum axis.

In the diagram below, the drum is prevented from slipping to the right by the angle of the rollers.

Figure 1.2 Roller adjustment

In large kilns, further support is provided by hydraulic buffers that move additional rollers. The thrust from these buffers, running parallel to the axis of the kiln on alternate sides, creates a vertical raising and lowering treads movement, which evens out wear on the treads and support rollers.

Either a floating or, more often, an adjusted tread may be used; the two types differ in the way in which they are fixed to the kiln shell.

Floating tires can be repositioned, i.e. placed opposite to the support rollers in order to compensate for the fact that the length of the cylinder increases due to dilation when the kiln is heated.

Figure 1.3 Floating type metal tread

Adjusted treads cannot be repositioned in this way, so the support rollers must be able to move. Adjusted treads reduce ovalization in the cylinder, a phenomenon that damages the internal coating.

These elements are costly, and it is best to limit the number used in a support system as far as possible.

1.2.4 Lining

Calcination kilns are generally lined. This lining acts both as thermal insulation, keeping heat in, and to protect the cylinder from the hightemperature gases which are used.

This lining is made from silica or magnesia bricks. Magnesia, the cheapest option, has a slightly higher dilation level when heated, and tends to creep under external loads at temperatures above 1,500 °C.

In cases where the temperature of the gas entering the system does not exceed 750°, lining is not essential as long as the cylinder is made from heat-resistant steel. If ordinary steel is used, the maximum acceptable temperature is 400 °C (for dryers); in this case, the cylinder is insulated from the outside (using fiberglass).

1.2.5