EVAPORATOR

Description
Evaporation is a process of concentrating a solution by vaporizing part or all of the solventusually water. Essentially, evaporation may be considered to be a special case of heat transfer in
which heat is transferred through a metal wall from condensing steam to a boiling liquid.
Procedure:
Feed, measured by water meter A, is introduced into the evaporator through valve B to a
predetermined level on water gage C. Steam is introduced into the steam chest, and pressurereducing valve D is set for the desired pressure. The steam condensate from tap E is passed
through a cooler and collected. As evaporation proceeds, feed is introduced continuously at a rate
sufficient to maintain the desired level in the evaporator. The evaporator is run for approximately
30 minutes to attain equilibrium conditions, and then data are taken over a 10 to 15 minute
interval, during which time the following measurements are recorded:

1.

Quantity and temperature of water introduced

2.

Temperatures and pressures of the steam and vapor

3.

Weight of condensate from condenser

4.

Weight of steam condensate from trap.

The experiment is repeated at various steam pressures and liquid levels. A separate series of runs
is made to determine the radiation losses from the steam chest. During these runs, the evaporator
is operated without introducing feed, and the heat losses sre calculated from the quantities of
steam condensed at various pressures.

In the areas circled in red, there are leaks present from the joints between the pipes. We
recommend to seal it properly.

The area encircled in red should have been sealed. There is supposed to be a sight glass attached
to allow visualization of the vapor space. However, the position of the hole where the sight glass
is supposed to be located is too high to allow access. The steam, instead of going to the
evaporator column, goes to the atmosphere because the system is not sealed.

The steam condensate trap did not originally contain any available piping to divert the steam
condensate away from falling on the water meter. The piping system above was installed during
the course of the trial run.
The feed solution cannot be introduced to the evaporator because a pipe carrying tap water is
already attached. This does not allow the study of evaporation operations other than that of tap
water.

The connection to the left should be severed because it does not allow the feed solution to enter
the evaporator.