ChE 30

Chemical engineering laboratory - II,

Experiment No. 

Group No. 03 (A2)

Name of the experiment:

STUDY OF A SINGLE EFFECT EVAPORATOR

Submitted by:
Md. Hasib Al Mahbub
Student Id: 0902045
Level: 3; Term: 2
Section: A2

Date of performance: 28/01/2014

Partners Student Id. 0902041

Date of submission: 11/02/2014

0902042
0902043
0902044

Department of Chemical Engineering.

Bangladesh University of engineering and technology, Dhaka.

Summary
The main objective of this experiment was to study, operate and obtain characteristics, to
perform material and energy balance and to determine steam economy which denotes the
efficiency of the whole evaporating operation of a single effect evaporator. This process
involved evaporation of only water in a still and steam at 10 psig is supplied to the still to heat
the water for evaporating. The vapor produced in the column goes to condenser and in a
condensate collected tank it was collected to find out the total amount of vapor formed with
time. Using the observed experimental data cumulative steam economy as well as overall steam
economy was calculated .The values of cumulative steam economy range was 0-0.19548 and
steam economy range for each observation was 0-0.960837 and the overall steam economy was
0.1955 .The overall heat loss was 131.902 MJ. A graph between vapor condensation rates vs.

cumulative time was plotted. The graph shows that the time required to reach steady state
condition was high. There were some discrepancies in the experiment. The possible cause of
other discrepancies discussed in discussions.

Temperature
of Still
Steam Chest
Water Level
Evaporator
Steam In
Feed In
Drain
Condensate
Drum
Stream Trap

Figure 1: Experimental setup of a single effect evaporator

Experimental Setup

Entrain
Separator
Condenser
Cooling
Water Temp.
Temperature
of Vapor
Steam Pressure
Evaporator
Pressure

Flow Diagram

Figure 2: Flow diagram of the system

Observed Data
Steam pressure = 10 Psig
Weight of bucket1 =0.65 Kg
Weight of bucket2 = 0.70 Kg
Time interval = 180 Sec
Condensate tank perimeter = 76 inch
Cooling water flow rate = 0.23 Kg/Sec
Cooling water inlet temperature = 74 oF
Cooling water outlet temperature = 80 oF
Table-1: Observed data for study of single effect evaporator.
Obs.
No.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

Vapor space
Still
Steam
Level of
Steam
Temperature Temperature condensate
vapor
condensate
( oF )
( oF )
Time (Sec) condensate
+
( cm)
Bucket1
(kg)
68
72
76
84
96
108
120
130
146
188
210
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212
212

100
122
144
160
174
180
186
190
196
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206
206

180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180

91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.9
91.3
91.1
90.9
90.7
90.5
90.3
90.0
89.8
89.5
89.2
88.9
88.6
88.2
87.9

6.5
4.35
3.3
2.75
2.3
2.25
2.45
2.5
2.3
2.6
2.72
3.5
2.6

Steam
condensate
+
Bucket2
(kg)
5
3.95
2.8
2.5
2.5
2.55
2.4
2.6
2.3
2.6
4.15
4
-

Calculated Data
Table-2: Calculated data for study of single effect evaporator.
Obs.
No.

Time
(sec)

Cumulative
height of
vapor
condensate(m)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.006
0.008
0.010
0.012
0.014
0.016
0.019
0.021
0.024
0.027
0.030
0.033
0.037
0.040

Water
evaporated
(Kg)

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1.7775
0.5925
0.5925
0.5925
0.5925
0.5925
0.8887
0.5925
0.8887
0.8887
0.8887
0.8887
1.1850
0.8887

Water
condensation
rate
Kg/Sec

Steam
condensate
(Kg)

Rate of steam
condensation
(Kg / Sec )

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0098
0.0033
0.0033
0.0033
0.0033
0.0033
0.0049
0.0033
0.0049
0.0049
0.0049
0.0049
0.0065
0.0049

5.85
4.30
3.70
3.25
2.65
2.10
2.10
1.80
1.65
1.80
1.60
1.85
1.80
1.70
1.85
1.90
1.65
1.60
1.95
1.90
2.07
3.45
2.85
3.30
1.95

0.0325
0.0238
0.0205
0.0180
0.0147
0.0116
0.0116
0.0100
0.0091
0.0100
0.0088
0.0103
0.0100
0.0094
0.0103
0.0106
0.0092
0.0088
0.0108
0.0105
0.0115
0.0191
0.0158
0.0183
0.0108

Table-3: Calculated data for study of single effect evaporator.

Obs. No.

Cumulative
wt. of steam
cond.(Kg)

Cumulative
Steam
economy

Steam
economy
for each
observation

Heat
recovered
by
steam(MJ)

Heat
absorbed
by
water(MJ)

Heat
loss(MJ)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

5.850
10.15
13.85
17.10
19.75
21.85
23.95
25.75
27.40
29.20
30.80
32.65
34.45
36.15
38.00
39.90
41.55
43.15
45.10
47.00
49.07
52.52
55.37
58.67
60.62

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.05444
0.06879
0.08195
0.09355
0.10395
0.11408
0.13044
0.13794
0.15128
0.16301
0.16922
0.17656
0.18683
0.19548

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.960837
0.329176
0.348539
0.320279
0.311851
0.359101
0.555484
0.303854
0.467776
0.429359
0.257616
0.311851
0.359101
0.455782

15.789
27.394
37.380
46.152
53.304
58.972
64.640
69.498
73.952
78.810
83.128
88.121
92.979
97.568
102.56
107.68
112.14
116.46
121.72
126.85
132.43
141.75
149.44
158.34
163.61

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.755
6.341
7.926
9.511
11.09
12.68
15.06
16.64
19.02
21.40
23.77
26.15
29.32
31.70

15.789
27.394
37.380
46.152
53.304
58.972
64.640
69.498
73.952
78.810
83.128
83.365
86.638
89.641
93.049
96.592
99.460
101.40
105.07
107.82
111.03
117.97
123.28
129.02
131.90

Table-4: Calculated data for study of single effect evaporator.

Overall steam
economy
0.1955

Overall heat
released from
steam (MJ)
163.612

Overall heat
recovered by
water(MJ)
31.705

Overall Heat loss

(MJ)
131.902

Sample Calculation
For Observation no. 16
Steam condensate flow rate = {(2.6 0.7) / 180} kg /sec
= 0.011 kg /sec

Perimeter of storage tank = 76 inch = 1.9304 m

Inner radius of storage tank, r = {1.9304 / (2)} m
= 0.3072 m
Level of water vapor storage tank, h12 = 90.3 cm =0.903 m
Level of water vapor storage tank, h13 = 90.0 cm =0.90 m
Volume of water vapor condensate = r2h
= { (0.3072)2 (0.903-0.90)} m3
= 8.8943x 10-4 m3
Water vapor condensed in the condenser = Water evaporated in the feed tank
From Franzini (Table: A-1)
Density of water, = 1000 kg /m3
Mass of water evaporated, m = (8.8943 10-4 1000) kg
= 0.88943 kg

Total mass of steam condensate, m1 = 60.62 kg

Total mass of water evaporated, m2 = 11.85 kg

Overall steam economy = (Total mass of water evaporated / Total mass of steam consumed)
= (11.85 / 60.62)
= 0.1955

Cumulative mass of water evaporate = 4.1476 kg

Cumulative mass of steam condensate= 39.9 kg

Cumulate steam economy= (Cumulative mass of water evaporated / Cumulative mass of

steam)

Cumulate steam economy = (4.1476/39.9)

= 0.1039

Calculation of steam economy for Observation no. 15

Mass of water evaporate

= 0.5925 Kg

Mass of steam condensate = 1.9 Kg

Steam economy = (Mass of water evaporated / Mass of steam consumed)

= (.5925/1.9)
= 0.3118
Enthalpy balance
Steam pressure = 10 psig = 24.7 psia
At 24.7 psia , Tsat = 115.203 oC
Enthalpy of evaporation, Hv1 = 2698.985 KJ /Kg

Cumulative heat released from steam, Q1 = m13 Hv1

= (39.9 x 2698.985) KJ
= 107.69 MJ

Overall heat released from steam, Q1,ov = mtotal Hv1

= (60.62 2698.985) KJ
=163.612 MJ
At, condenser pressure= 14.7 Psia , Tsat=100 oC
Enthalpy of evaporation, Hv2 = 2675.57 kJ/ kg

Cumulative heat recovered by water, Q2 = m13 Hv2

= (4.1476 2675.57) KJ
= 11.097MJ

Overall heat recovered by water, Q2 ov = mtotal Hv2

= (11.85 2675.57) KJ
= 31.705 MJ
Cumulative heat loss , H = Q1 Q2
= (107.69 11.097) MJ
= 96.586 MJ

Overall heat loss, H = Q1 ov Q2 ov

= (163.612 31.705) MJ
= 131.902 MJ

Results and Discussions

Table-5: Range of result for various observation of single effect evaporator.
Ranges of steam

Range of

Range of

Overall heat

Overall steam

economy for

cumulative heat

cumulative

loss(MJ)

economy

each observation

loss (MJ)

steam economy

0-0.960837

15.789-131.90

0-0.19548

131.902

0.1955

From vapor condensation rate Vs. cumulative time curve, it was observed that at beginning rate
increases with time and go through the pick point its to a steady state condition. This state arrived after
40 minutes.
In this experiment, the steam economy is very low because of single effect evaporator. Steam economy
would be greater if multiple effect evaporator was used. Heat loss is very high .The possible reasons for
this high heat loss are discussed below
In this experiment, we converted a double effect evaporator to a single effect evaporator by
closing some valves. The total unit of heat exchanger was too old to perform and lost its actual
insulation. Therefore, energy could be lost in the surroundings.
The inlet steam was collided at the steam chest and thus condensed and lost its energy.
The evaporator, condenser, other apparatus used, and the internal pipe network could absorb
some energy.
Moreover, the result could be varied due to the error reading of the mass of condensed steam
and height of condensed vapor.

10