Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Chemical Engineering and Processing:

Process Intensication
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cep

Simulation and optimization of a six-effect evaporator in a desalination

process
M.H. Khademi, M.R. Rahimpour , A. Jahanmiri
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Shiraz University,
Shiraz 71345, Iran

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 29 March 2007
Received in revised form 20 April 2008
Accepted 21 April 2008
Available online 2 May 2008
Keywords:
Multi-effect evaporators
Desalination
Simulation
Optimization

a b s t r a c t
This study presents the steady-state simulation and optimization of a six-effect evaporator and the provision of its relevant software package. In this investigation, the modeling equations of each of the existing
building blocks are written in a steady-state conditions. These equations have been used for simulation
and process optimization of the entire vaporizing unit while exercising the simplifying assumptions. The
effect of different parameters on consumed steam produced distilled water and GOR is presented. The
feed mass ow rate, condenser pressure and operating time are optimized for this system. The simulation
results are good agreement with design data.
2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Multi-effect (ME) distillation is widely used in chemical industry
to concentrate solutions and recover solvents. In seawater desalination, MSF is considered the most widely used process; nevertheless,
increasing interest in the ME process has emerged due to improvements that have lately been achieved in the evaporator design.
Falling lm evaporators allow the enhancement of the heat-transfer
rate and reduce the scaling problem as compared to classical MEB
submerged tube evaporators.
Modeling and simulation of the desalination process allow better design, operation, and insight into the operation of the process
from which an optimal operating condition and advanced control
strategy are reached. The dynamic models are used to solve problems related to transient behavior such as start-up, shutdown, and
load transients.
Several papers investigated the steady-state and dynamic modeling of multi-effect evaporators. Lambert developed a system of
non-linear equations governing the MEE system and presented a
calculation procedure for reducing this system to a linear form and
solved iteratively by the Gaussian elimination technique [1]. Boiling point rise and nonlinear enthalpy relationships in temperature
and composition were included. The results of linear and nonlinear
techniques were compared.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 711 2303071; fax: +98 711 6287294.
E-mail address: rahimpor@shirazu.ac.ir (M.R. Rahimpour).
0255-2701/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cep.2008.04.013

El-Nashar and Qamhiyeh developed a simulation model for

predicting the transient behavior of ME stack-type distillation
plants [2]. Transient heat balance equations were written for each
plant component in terms of the unknown temperatures of each
effect. The equations were solved simultaneously to yield the timedependent effect of temperature as well as performance ratio and
distillate production. The results of the simulations program were
compared with actual plant operating data taken during plant startup, and agreement was found to be reasonable.
Tonelli et al. presented a computed package for the simulation
of the open-loop dynamic response of MEE for the concentration
of liquid foods [3]. It is based on a non-linear mathematical model.
An illustrative case study for a triple-effect evaporator for apple
juice concentrators was presented. The response of the unit to large
disturbances in steam pressure and feed ow rate based on the
solution of the mathematical model was in excellent agreement
with the experimentally determined response.
Hanbury presented a steady-state solution to the performance
equations of an MED plant [4]. The simulation was based on a linear
decrease in boiling heat-transfer coefcient, unequal inter-effect
temperature differences, and equal effect thermal loads from the
second effect down.
Rosso et al. described a steady-state mathematical model developed to analyze MSF plants [5]. The developed model can analyze
the operating and design variables to identify plant behavior, but
the model was not only developed for design purposes but also to
support a dynamic model. The model can predict the production
rate, the brine ow rate in all stages and the temperature proles.

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M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

The study also presents the effect of top brine temperature (TBT)
on the performance of the plant.
Husain et al. described the modeling and simulation of a multistage desalination plant with 15 recovery stages and three rejection
stages [6]. The study was based on both steady-state and dynamic
simulations; the study was carried out using a FORTRAN program
for the steady-state simulation and also through a SPEEDUP package.
Hamed investigated the thermal performance of a ME desalination system [7]. An analytical solution was developed to verify
the impact of different process variables on the performance of
the MED system as number of effects, TBT, inlet seawater and the
amount of product. The dependence of the water production cost on
the performance of the plant was also studied. The results showed
that the performance ratio is highly dependent on the number of
effect, and both the inlet seawater temperature and TBT are slightly
affected on the plant performance ratio.
Darwish developed thermal analysis of multistage ash desalting systems [8]. In the base of mathematical model, the effect of
number of stage on the performance of the system is discussed.
Elkamel and co-workers described the development and application of articial neural networks (ANNs) as a modeling technique
for simulating, analyzing, and optimizing MSF processes [9]. Real
operational data is obtained from an existing MSF plant during
two modes of operation: a summer mode and a winter mode.
ANNs based on feed-forward architecture and trained by the backpropagation algorithm with momentum and a variable learning
rate are developed. The networks can predict different plant performance outputs including the distilled water produced and top
brine temperature.
This work focuses on the development of a steady-state model
for the multi-effect evaporator desalination system. The paper
presents the model equations, method of solution, optimization
of operating conditions by sequential simplex method, optimization of operating time, and the effect of feed mass ow rate, feed
temperature and condenser pressure on GOR, consumed steam and
produced distilled water. The paper presents new plant data which
is interesting for industrials.

Table 1
Size of heat exchangers and pre-heaters

Tube diameter (mm)

Tube length (m)
Number of tube pass
Number of tubes

Heat exchanger

Pre-heater

24.2
8
3
221

24.2
9
4
17

this tank is kept constant. Efuent is pumped from the balance tank
to a ash tank to remove the air from the system, where ashing is
connected to the condenser. Efuent is then pumped from the ash
tank through six pre-heaters arranged in series and passes to the
ash tank of effect I. Steam is supplied to the heat exchanger and
pre-heater of effect I. The produced vapor in ash tank I is directed
to shell of the next effect heat exchanger as heating medium. The
ow of brine at the outlet of ash tank I is divided in two parts. One
is directed to the ash tank of the next effect and the second one
is recycled to the heat exchanger of effect I by use of a recirculation pump (constant ow rate). A similar process takes place in the
next effects. Vapor from effect VI is condensed in a condenser by
use of cold water which is supplied from cooling tower. Size of heat
exchangers and pre-heaters are shown in Table 1.
3. Process modeling

2. Process description

The steady-state mathematical model includes material and

energy balance equations as well as heat-transfer rate equations.
The model predicts temperature, vapor, salt concentration and
liquor of various streams, consumed steam and GOR (the ratio of
produced vapor to consumed steam). The model includes a set of
well-tested empirical correlations for evaluation of the thermodynamic properties. The correlations are dened as a function of
the stream conditions such as temperature and concentration. As a
result, the model equations are coupled and highly nonlinear. Taking into account the heat exchanger, pre-heater and the ash tank
in the ith effect which have been shown in Fig. 2, the following sections include the model equations for heat exchanger, ash tank
and pre-heater, specications and solution method.
The assumptions invoked in development of the model equations include the following:

The evaporation plant of Jams Fajr renery is a vacuum station

consisting of six-effect stages. Each stage comprises heat exchanger,
ash tank and pre-heater. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram for the
system. The efuent has a dry matter content of 2.06% when fed to
the rst effect stage and 15.0% at discharge from effect VI. The efuent is fed into the plant through a lter to a balance tank. The level in

The vapor formed in the evaporator is salt free; this assumes that
the entrainment of brine droplets by the vapor stream is negligible and has no effect on the salinity of the distillate product.
Energy losses from the evaporator to the surroundings are negligible; this is because of operation at relatively low temperatures,
between 45 and 115 C.

Fig. 1. Schematic of multi-effect evaporator desalination process.

M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

341

3.2. Flash tank

Mass balance:
e(i) + m
i1 = m
v,i + m
FT(i)
v,e(i) + m
m

(5)

Salt balance:
e(i) + xi1 m
i1 = xFT(i) m
FT(i)
xe(i) m

(6)

Energy balance:
v,e(i) Hv (Tb,e(i) ) + m
e(i) H(Tb,e(i) , xe(i) ) + m
i1 H(Tb,i1 , xi1 )
m
FT(i) H(Tb,i , xFT(i) )
v,i H(Tb,i ) + m
=m

(7)

3.3. Pre-heater
Energy balance:
f,i H(Tf,i , xf,i )
qPH(i) = mv,e(i) (Tbw,i1 ) = m
f,i+1 H(Tf,i+1 , xf,i+1 )
m

(8)

Fig. 2. A schematic of an effect.

The pre-heater thermal load from shell to tube, qPH(i) , is given

No solid material of the liquor is deposited.
The entire of balance equations are lumped together. The heat
transmission, from shell to tube is conducted in a constant temperature and the temperature of shell and tube is not changed
with length.
The overall heat-transfer coefcient is assumed constant, but it
is not the same for all effects.
The pre-heaters are worked as total condenser and they have not
any vapor outlet.
Steam is used in shell side and the liquid leaving is in saturated
condition.
3.1. Heat exchanger
Mass balance:

qPH(i) = UPH(i) APH(i) LMTD

LMTD =

(9)

Tf,i Tf,i+1

(10)

ln[Tbw,i1 Tf,i+1 /Tbw,i1 Tf,i ]

4. Solution method
Regarding the knowledge of steam temperature, feed mass ow
rate, feed temperature, feed concentration, condenser pressure
and heat exchanger characteristics, prevalent equations have been
solved by programming language Matlab.7, using the method of
trial and error. A schematic of programming ow chart has been
shown in Fig. 3.
5. Optimization

v,e(i) + m
e(i)
mFT(i) = m

(1)

Salt balance:
e(i)
xFT(i) mFT(i) = xe(i) m

(2)

Energy balance:
mFT(i) H(Tb,i , xFT(i) )

by

The objective function (economic criterion).

The process model (constraints).

e(i) H(Tb,e(i) , xe(i) )

+ qe(i) = m
v,e(i) Hv (Tb,e(i) )
+m

(3)

The heat exchanger thermal load from shell to tube, qe(i) , is given
by
v,i1 Hv (Tbw,i1 )
qe(i) = Ue(i) Ae(i) [Tbw,i1 Tb,e(i) ] = m
c,e(i) Hc (Tbw,i1 ) mv,e(i) Hv (Tbw,i1 )
m

Problem formulation is perhaps the most crucial step in resolving a problem that involves optimization. Problem formulation
requires identifying the essential elements of a conceptual or verbal statement of a given application, and organizing them into a
prescribed mathematical form, namely

(4)

where U is the overall heat-transfer coefcient; A the heat-transfer

area; T the temperature; m the mass ow rate; x the salt concentration; H the enthalpy; and the subscripts e, FT, bw, b, v,
c and i denote the exchanger, ash tank, water boiling, salt
water boiling, vapor, condensed, and effect number, respectively.

The objective function represents prot, cost, energy, yield, etc.,

in terms of the key variables of the process being analyzed. The
process model and constraints describe the interrelationships of
the key variables. In the chemical process industries, the objective
function often is expressed in units of currency because the goal
of enterprise is to minimize costs or maximize prots subject to a
variety of constraints [10].
For optimization of the evaporation unit of Fajr renery, it is
required to dene the objective function and simulate the unit. The
objective function in quadratic form related to evaporation unit is
dened as below:
J=

2
1
(mc kc )
2

12 (ms ks ) 12 (mcw kcw )

(11)
)2

In this equation, the rst term 1/2(mc kc is related to income

of product condensed water, where mc is the amount and kc is
the price of one kg of the condensed water. The second term

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M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

Fig. 3. A schematic of programming ow chart.

1/2(ms ks )2 is related to consumed steam, where ms is the amount

and ks is the price of one kg of consumed steam. The third term
1/2(mcw kcw )2 is related to cooling water, where mcw is the amount
and kcw is the price of each kg of cooling water in the condenser
in order to create vacuum in the effect. Variables of , and 

are estimating the importance of each variable which could differ

from 0 to 1 according to the importance of each variable. In this
optimization the amount of , and  are weighting factor and
are assumed equal to 1. In the objective function, terms related to
investment and running cost are neglected. In Table 2, the cost of

M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

Table 2
Cost of parameters of ks , kcw and kc [11]

time can also be obtained by setting the derivative of Eq. (16) with
respect to tb equal to zero and solving for tb . The result is

Utility

Cost

Steam (100 psig): ks

Cooling water (tower): kcw
Distilled water: kc

0.51.00$/1000 lb
0.020.08$/1000 gal
0.701.20$/1000 gal

different parameters ks , kcw and kc are given:

6. Optimization of operating time
Solid deposition on heat-transfer area and scale forming is one
of the main difculties in evaporation systems. The continuous formation of the scale causes a gradual increase in resistance of heat
and, consequently, a reduction in the rate of heat transfer and rate
of evaporation. Under this condition, the evaporation unit must be
intervaly shut down and cleaned after an optimum operation time.
For expecting maximum yield of distilled water, it should be maximized the rate of evaporation and for this propose, the rate of heat
transfer is considered as an objective function and is maximized.
The inverse of the square of overall heat-transfer coefcient may
be related to operating time by a straight-line equation as follows
[11]:

dQ
A T
= UA T =
1/2
dtb
(atb + d)

(13)

The rate of heat transfer is time dependent, but the heat-transfer

area and the temperature-difference driving force remain essentially constant. Therefore, the total amount of heat transferred
during an operating time of tb can be determined by integrating
of Eq. (13) as follows:


dQ = A T

Q =

2
adtc
a

(17)

where tb in Eq. (17) is time per cycle for maximum amount of heat
transfer.
The optimum operating time given by (17) shows the operating schedule necessary to permit the maximum amount of heat
transfer.
Now to nd the operation time of evaporation system of Fajr
renery, the overall heat-transfer coefcient of evaporator I is a
linear function of operating time tb as below:
1
= 7.646 108 tb + 2.75 106
U2

(18)

This equation is based on Eq. (12) and thickness of scale in the

evaporator tubes. The diameter of evaporator tubes is 24.2 mm and
has been calculated according to the industrial information and
the thickness of scale in the evaporator tubes during one year. The
cleaning time and restarting of the unit is supposed to be one week.
Table 3 shows the operating constants of evaporator system of Fajr
renery.

(12)

where a and d are constants for any given evaporator and U is the
overall heat-transfer coefcient at any operating time tb since the
beginning of the operation.
If Q represents the total amount of heat transferred in the
operating time tb , and A and T represent heat-transfer area and
temperature-difference driving force, respectively, the rate of heat
transfer at any instant is:

tb = tc +

7. Results and discussion

1
= atb + d
U2

343

tb

1
atb + d

1/2
dtb

2A T
1/2
[(atb + d)
d1/2 ]
a

(14)

(15)

Eq. (15) can be used as a basis for nding the cycling time which
will permit the maximum amount of heat transfer during a given
period. Each cycling time consists of an operating time of tb month.
If the time per cycle for emptying, cleaning and recharging is tc ,
then the total in each cycling time is tt = tb + tc . Therefore, designating the total time used for actual operation, emptying, cleaning,
and relling as E, the number of cycles during E month is equal to
E/(tb + tc ).
The total amount of heat transferred during E month, QE is equal
to (Q/cycle) (cycles/E month)
Therefore,
2A T
E
1/2
[(atb + d)
d1/2 ]
QE =
a
tb + tc

(16)

Under ordinary conditions, the only variable in Eq. (16) is the operating time tb . A plot of the total amount of heat transferred vs. tb
shows a maximum at the optimum value of tb . The optimum cycle

As it is represented in the process description, produced vapor

in effect I is directed to shell of the next effect heat exchanger
as heating medium. In the evaporation plant of Jams Fajr renery, as a result of scale formation and vacuum shortage, produced
vapor in effect I is not enough for the next effect as heating
medium. Therefore, steam is supplied to effect I and also effect
II. Consequently, the evaporation unit of Jams Fajr renery does
not really work and industrial data is not available. For this proposed, the predicted data (simulation results) is compared with
design data. Table 4 demonstrates the design data and simulation
results of heat exchanger temperature, pre-heater temperature,
vapor mass ow rate, liquor mass ow rate and salt mass fraction
in each effect. Model results show good agreement with the design
data.
In the mathematical modeling, since the values of variables mf ,
xf , Tf , Ts and condenser pressure are known and the rest of variables
are unknown, it is possible to study the effect of these parameters
on GOR, consumed steam and produced distilled water.
Fig. 4 shows effect of feed mass ow rate on consumed steam
and produced distilled water. With increasing of mass ow rate of
feed water from 48,000 to 53,500 kg/h, consumed steam and produced distilled water increase from 8350 to 8470 kg/h and 40,900
to 41,850 kg/h, respectively. This means that increasing feed mass
ow rate causes reduction in mass fraction of salt water in the ash
tank of effect I and therefore in the rst effect evaporator. This
results in reducing the BPE. Reduction of BPE increases temperature difference of consumed steam and evaporator of effect I and
increases transferred heat from consumed steam to effect I. This
shows growth of consumed steam. As it can be seen in this gTable 3
Operating constants of evaporation system of Fajr renery
Constants

Values

A
a
d
E
tc
T

403.25 m2
7.646 108
2.75 106
12 months
7 days
3 C

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M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

Table 4
Comparison of model predictions and design data for each effect
Heat exchanger
temperature ( C)

Pre-heater temperature
( C)

Vapor mass ow rate (kg/h)

Liquor mass ow rate

(kg/h)

Salt mass fraction (mol%)

Model results
Effect
Design data
I

114.9976
115

106.0733
105

7187.1341
7552

43646.1079
43,362

0.024403
0.02462

Model results
Effect
Design data
II

106.0733
105

94.6549
94

7217.6187
7402

36628.4892
35,960

0.029226
0.03723 (?)

Model results
Effect
III Design data

94.6549
94

85.951
84.5

6723.4521
7293

29905.0371
28,667

0.037274
0.03723

Model results
Effect
IV Design data

85.951
84.5

74.6878
73.5

7055.6473
7121

22849.1898
21,546

0.045594
0.04954

Model results
Effect
Design data
V

74.6878
73.5

59.6568
58.5

6653.8045
6763

16195.3853
14,783

0.064446
0.0722

Model results
Effect
VI Design data

59.6568
58.5

41.1224
40

5953.396
7667

10241.9893
7116

Fig. 4. Effect of feed water mass ow rate ow rate on consumed steam and produced distilled water. Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C, Tf = 60 C, xf = 0.0206 and
Pcond = 7.404 kPa.

ure, increasing feed mass ow rate by 11.4% can increase consumed

steam and produced distilled water by 1.4% and 2.3%, respectively.
Fig. 5 shows effect of feed mass ow rate on GOR. At 65 C
increasing the feed mass ow rate from 48,000 to 53,500 kg/h
can increase GOR by 2.13%. With increasing feed mass ow rate,

Fig. 5. Effect of feed water mass on GOR. Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C,

xf = 0.0206 and Pcond = 7.404 kPa.

0.10054
0.15

it seems that total distilled water increases with a higher rate than
consumed steam and so increases GOR.
Fig. 6 shows effect of feed temperature on consumed steam
and produced distilled water. Increase in feed temperature from
51 to 68 C decreases consumed steam from 8477 to 8412 kg/h
and increases produced distilled water from 41,100 to 42,200 kg/h.
Increase in feed temperature causes an increase in the uid temperature entering the ash tank of rst effect. Therefore, more vapors
are generated. As a result the mass fraction of salt water exiting the
ash tank in rst effect will increase. Growth in amount of salt mass
fraction of ash tank in effect I results in increasing of salt mass
fraction of evaporator. This increases BPE, decreases temperature
differences between consumed steam and evaporator in rst effect
and also heat transferred between consumed steam and evaporator
in rst effect. This shows reduction in consumed steam. Increasing
feed temperature by 33.3% can decrease consumed steam by 0.7%
and increase produced distilled water by 2.6%.
Fig. 7 shows effect of feed temperature on GOR. At condenser
pressure 7.4 kPa, increasing feed temperature from 51 to 68 C
results in reduction of consumed steam and increase of produced
vapor and therefore it will increase GOR by 3.6%.
Fig. 8 shows effect of condenser pressure on consumed steam
and produced distilled water. Increasing condenser pressure from
6.6 to 8.2 kPa will decrease consumed steam and produced distilled
water from 8620 to 8250 kg/h and 42,500 to 41,070 kg/h, respectively. This show with increasing condenser pressure, condenser
temperature will increase too. As a result boiling temperature

Fig. 6. Effect of feed temperature on consumed steam and produced distilled water.
Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C, mf = 51,816 kg/h, xf = 0.0206 and Pcond = 7.404 kPa.

M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

Fig. 7. Effect of feed temperature on GOR. Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C,

mf = 51,816 kg/h and xf = 0.0206.

345

Fig. 9. Effect of condenser pressure on GOR. Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C,

xf = 0.0206 and Tf = 60 C.

of evaporator in rst effect will increase and therefore produced

distilled water will decrease too. Increase in boiling temperature
decreases difference of temperature between consumed steam and
evaporator of rst effect and also heat transferred between consumed steam and evaporator. This will decrease consumed steam.
As it can be seen in this gure, increasing condenser pressure by
24.2% can decrease consumed steam and produced distilled water
by 4.3% and 3.2%, respectively.
Fig. 9 shows effect of condenser pressure on GOR. At feed mass
ow rate 51,816 kg/h, increasing condenser pressure from 6.6 to
8.2 kPa will increase GOR by 1.2%. With increasing condenser pressure, it seems that total distilled water decreases with a lower rate
than consumed steam and so increases GOR.
In the operating conditions of feed temperature 60 C, mass
ow rate 51,816 kg/h, salt mass fraction 0.0206, steam temperature 149 C, and condenser pressure 7.4044 kPa, the design data of
consumed steam and GOR are 8429 kg/h and 5.3, respectively. The
relative error (RE) between design data and predicted data for consumed steam and GOR are respectively 0.1% and 6.7%. Since in the
given simulation, produced vapor in each effect has been calculated by using trial and error method, then accumulated error for
six effects causes on considerable error between design data and
predicted data of GOR but it is good agreement with design data.

The system can be optimized by using dened objective function

(Eq. (11)) and simulation of the system as a constraint. The Sequential Simplex [12] method is used to optimize feed mass ow rate
and condenser pressure. In this method at each iteration, to maximize objective function, objective function is evaluated at each of
three vertices of the triangle. The direction of search is oriented
away from the point with the lowest value for the function through
the centroid of the simplex. By making the search direction bisect
the line between the other two points of the triangle, the direction
will go through the centroid. A new point is selected in this reected
direction. The objective function is then evaluated at the new point,
and a new search direction is calculated. This method is continued until the objective function is directed to the optimum. Fig. 10
shows the effect of feed mass ow rate and condenser pressure on
the objective function. In the operating conditions of feed temperature 60 C, salt mass fraction 0.0206, and steam temperature 149 C,
the results are shown optimum values of feed mass ow rate and
condenser pressure are 51,408 kg/h and 7.6 kPa, respectively. The
quantity of produced distilled water at these optimized values is
42,360 kg/h.
Considering the contents of this paper, optimized operating time
of evaporation system of Fajr renery can be calculated. It can be
studied changes in transferred heat of evaporator surface (effect I)

Fig. 8. Effect of condenser pressure on consumed steam and produced distilled

water. Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C, mf = 51,816 kg/h, xf = 0.0206 and Tf = 60 C.

Fig. 10. Effect of feed mass ow rate and condenser pressure on the objective function. Operating conditions: Ts = 149 C, xf = 0.0206 and Tf = 60 C.

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M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

Greek symbol

latent heat (kJ/kg)
Subscripts
b
brine
bw
water boiling temperature
c
condensate
cond
condenser
cw
cooling water
e
evaporator
f
feed
FT
ash tank
i
effect number
PH
pre-heater
s
steam
v
vapor
w
water
Fig. 11. Transferred heat of evaporator surface of rst effect vs. operating time.

Appendix B. Model correlation

of Fajr renery (QE ) according to Table 3 and Eq. (14), with respect
to operating time tb . These changes have been shown in Fig. 11.
Transferred heat from surfaces of evaporator is maximum in operating time 6.247 months. This means optimized operating time of
Fajr renery is 6.247 months or 187 days. By use of this condition,
it can expect maximum yield of distilled water.

The following correlations are used to calculate the thermodynamic properties of saturated water and seawater.

8. Conclusion

where P is in kPa and T is in C. The above correlation is developed

over a range of 10110 C with percentage errors less than 2% for
the calculated and the steam table values [13].
The saturation temperature correlation is given by

This study presents the steady-state simulation and optimization of a six-effect evaporator. The effect of feed mass ow rate,
feed temperature and condenser pressure on consumed steam, produced distilled water and GOR was discussed. Feed temperature
plays most important role in the evaporation plant. The results of
optimization show that feed mass ow rate 51,408 kg/h and condenser pressure 7.6 kPa are optimized operating conditions for this
system; also optimized operating time for operation of vaporizing
unit in this renery is the period of 187 days.
The unsteady-state simulation is recommended for future work.
With unsteady-state simulation, the economic inuence of the
optimized time of operation can be analyzed.
Appendix A. Nomenclature

A
BPE
E
H
k
m
P
q
Q
tb
tc
T
U

heat-transfer area (m2 )

boiling point elevation ( C)
total time for actual operation, emptying, cleaning and
relling (month)
enthalpy of liquid and vapor phases (kJ/kg)
price of each kg
mass ow rate (kg/s)
pressure (kPa)
heat-transfer rate (W)
heat-transfer rate (J)
operating time (month)
time per cycle for emptying, cleaning and recharging
(month)
temperature ( C)
overall heat-transfer coefcient (W/m2 C). (For evaporators are U1 = 3100, U2 = 2900, U3 = 2600, U4 = 2400,
U5 = 1900 and U6 = 1600 W/m2 C and for pre-heater I is
U1 = 1500 W/m2 C)
salt mass fraction (%)

The correlation for the water vapor saturation pressure is given

by
T=

42.6776

3892.7
[ln(P/1000) 9.48654]

273.15

(19)

P = 10.17246 0.6167302(T ) + 1.832249 102 (T )2

1.77376 104 (T )3 + 1.47068 106 (T )4

(20)

C.

where P is in kPa and T is in

The above correlation is valid
for the calculated saturation temperature over a pressure range
of 101750 kPa. The percentage errors for the calculated vs. the
steam table values are less than 0.1% [13].
The vapor enthalpy of pure water is given by
H = 2500.152 + 1.947036(T ) 1.945387 103 (T )2
0.01145 C

(21)

R2

with a range of
and
= 0.9999 [13].
The liquid enthalpy of pure water is given by
H = 0.5802129 + 4.151904(T ) + 3.536659 104 (T )2

(22)

with a range of 0.01145 C and R2 = 0.9999 [13].

The latent heat correlation for the water vapor is
 = 2589.583 + 0.9156T 4.8343 102 T 2

(23)

where T is in
and  is in kJ/kg. The above correlation is valid
over a temperature range of 10140 C with errors less than 0.4%
for the calculated and the steam table values [13].
The enthalpy correlation for the aqueous sodium chloride is
H = A + BT + CT 2 + DT 3 + ET 4
A = (0.0005 + 0.0378X 0.3682X 2 0.6529X 3 + 2.89X 4 ) 103
B = 4.145 4.973X + 4.482X 2 + 18.31X 3 46.41X 4
C = 0.0007 0.0059X + 0.0854X 2 0.4951X 3 + 0.8255X 4
D = (0.0048 + 0.0639X 0.714X 2 + 3.273X 3 4.85X 4 ) 103
E = (0.0202 0.2432X + 2.054X 2 8.211X 3 + 11.43X 4 ) 106
(24)
where T is in C and H is in kJ/kg. The above correlation is valid
over a temperature range of 0300 C and over a sodium chloride

M.H. Khademi et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 48 (2009) 339347

mass fraction (X) range of 0.0060.26 with errors less than 0.08%
[14].
The boiling point elevation correlation for the seawater is
BPE = [565.757/T 9.81559 + 1.54739 ln T (337.178/T
6.41981 + 0.922743 ln T ) A + (32.681/T 0.55368
(25)
+0.079022 ln T ) A2 ] [A/(266919.6/T 2
379.669/T + 0.334169)]
A = (19.819X)/(1 X)
where T is in degree K, X is the salt concentration, mass fraction,
and BPE is the boiling point elevation in C [15].
In steady operation practically all of the heat that was expended in
creating vapor in the rst effect must be given up when this same
vapor condenses in the second effect. In ordinary practice the
heating areas in all the effects of a multiple-effect evaporator are
equal. Therefore, if boiling points elevation is neglected, the temperature drops in a multiple-effect evaporator are approximately
inversely proportional to the heat-transfer coefcient. Thus,
1/U
Ti = (Ts Tcond ) 6 i
1/Ui
i=1

(26)

It is considerable that ash tank of each effect and heat

exchanger of next effect have the same temperature.
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