Flow regime assessment in falling film evaporators using residence time distribution functions

A falling film evaporator (FFE) is an industrial device to concentrate solutions. The aim of this study wasto identify the flow regime, and characterize and model the residence time distribution (RTD) functions ofa FFE. Experimental runs were carried out with skim milk at three different feed mass f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of food engineering Vol. 160; pp. 65 - 76
Main Authors Silveira, Arlan Caldas Pereira, Tanguy, Gaëlle, Perrone, Ítalo Tuler, Jeantet, Romain, Ducept, Fabrice, de Carvalho, Antônio Fernandes, Schuck, Pierre
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier 01.09.2015
Subjects
Chemical and Process Engineering
Engineering Sciences
Food and Nutrition
Food engineering
Life Sciences
lait écrémé
évaporation
concentration de solution
industrie laitière
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Summary:A falling film evaporator (FFE) is an industrial device to concentrate solutions. The aim of this study wasto identify the flow regime, and characterize and model the residence time distribution (RTD) functions ofa FFE. Experimental runs were carried out with skim milk at three different feed mass flow rates. Flowwas characterized using experimental Reynolds number ( Ref ). The RTD function in the FFE was measuredin four sections of the vacuum evaporator equipment. These RTD functions were modeled by a combina-tion of perfectly mixed reactor tanks in series. In this study, when the flow regime changed from wavy-laminar to laminar, the mean residence time increased. The flow was analyzed as a main and a minorretarded flow, where two layers of product flowed through the evaporation tubes. The future of this workconsists of extending the RTD approach to other products and operating conditions in the evaporatordevice.
ISSN:0260-8774
DOI:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2015.03.016