Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1983 Wright The Performance of Tubular and Direct Contact Juice Heaters
1983 Wright The Performance of Tubular and Direct Contact Juice Heaters
ABSTRACT
As a result of the considerations of the fundamental correlations for
heat transfer and pressure drop as applied to the operation of juice heating
in raw sugar mills, <<new>>
expressions are presented for the tubular juice
heaters typically used. The performance of direct vapour contact juice
heaters is also discussed.
INTRODUCTION
The process of juice heating, usually carried out in two stages denoted primary'
and secondary heating, can be operated in a variety of ways, and use a range of
steam or vapour sources. T h e Australian raw sugar industry has for various
reasons standardised on the use of the horizontal cylindrical multipass tubular
type, using vapour direct from the exhaust main, or from the first or second
evaporator stages. In other countries, the use of vertical cylindrical multipass
types with longer tubes is common. More recently, the present author has advocated the use of direct contact methods of juice heating (Wright '; Wright and
Hutchinson lo) and has reported on the performance of such devices. However,
the traditional multitubular heaters will remain for a long time, and design information on these is still desirable.
TUBULAR JUICE HEATER PERFORMANCE
It must be concluded from a review of the present literature that the many
equations given for prediction of heat transfer coefficient (HTC) give a wide
scatter of predictions for typical heater arrangements, and are generally too simplistic to be accurate. However, since in the Australian cane sugar industry the
design of juice heaters is very standardised, and the operating conditions do not
vary widely, it is possible to formulate design expressions for heat transfer and
pressure drop which are quite accurate. As the complexity of an expression is
now not a great barrier to its use, it seems opportune to review the expressions
available, and to look more *closely at the fundamental chemical engineering
approach to the formulation of heat transfer and pressure drop equations to see if
more accurate expressions can be derived. This has been done recently by the
present author (Wright 14), and this paper summarises and extends the results.
+ 0,04)
where the symbols and units are given in the symbol table.
2.
l)
U = 1,028 fl
with the same nomenclature as above. This equation was formulated from data
collected for the QSSCT group during the 1933 season.
3.
3,
which Hugot recognised as having a more correct form that the preceeding
expressions, but which gives values for ((clean tubes), only.
4.
which retains a steam temperature variation factor and a modified velocity term.
When the formulae above are evaluated and compared for typical practical
Australian heater conditions they give very wide differences. Of those given, the
((Australian formula. (Item above) is considered by the author to give a reasonable basis for sizing juice heater installations which use a 72 h cleaning cycle. However, the equation does not predict changes of HTC with time ((on line>>due to
scaling influences, and is greatly oversimplified.
'
~undahentalHTC Considerations
The fundamental expressions relating to heat transfer in tubular heat exchangers are available in many standard texts on heat transfer and chemical engineering unit operations. In view of the similarity of heater design and of material
properties in the Australian sugar industry, it is possible to narrow the examination to that for standard designs of heaters, with horizontal or vertical layout, with
brass or stainless steel tubes, ant to consider the juice as equivalent in viscosity
and thermal properties to a 20 brix sucrose solution. This simplifies the task very
significantly.
'
where the values of X1 to X5 are given for the different applications as follows:
Application
X Values
x,
x3
x4
x5
The value of the scaling multiplier factor X4 has been found to be around
0,0035 in several cases, but can vary from 0,002 in low fouling primary heating
applications in some factory areas to 0,005 in some secondary heating applications. This has to be ccmatchedn to the typical factory heater performance pattern
for greater accuracy.
3
0'
a,
?=
.'
b =
.2 r m
- I-
g6
0 .. 5
L m 3
m - -
. 2 m
Em,',
zcn2
$
a,
m
V)
c
a,
c
0
0
Metal
wall
Distance
Figure 2 shows HTC's plotted against operational time from the expression (d),
for secondary heating with horizontal 0,044 m diameter stainless steel tubes and a
scaling multiplier (X4)value of 0,0035. The values predicted by the <<Australian
formula>>agree with the 72 h operation values for the middle juice velocities in the
equation to juice velocity is more than that of
range. The sensitivity of the <<new>>
the <<Asustralianformula>>,and this agrees with the contention of Crawford and
Shann that juice velocity is important both from the juice film coefficient and
from the rate of scaling aspect. The <<new>>
predictions for clean tubes correspond
quite closely to the <<clean>>
data of Crawford and Shann.
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
Also shown in Fig. 2 is a plot of the HTC of a large secondary juice heater
determined at Plane Creek factory for one week in November, 1980. The agreement to the 1,5 mls velocity prediction curve is excellent after the first period of
reduced juice flow on start up has passed. (The necessary data was logged using
a logic controlled data logging system based on Intel SBC 80120-4 microcomputer
boards.)
~ ~ ~ l i c a t i oofn HTC
s
Expressions
Single Heater Expressions
Where a single heater, or group of heaters used together, is operated, the HTC
can be calculated by the equations above as a function of time. An estimate of
the HTC actually required to carry out the heating duty can then be made using
the equation:
Ureq
=A LMTD
Where U,,, is the HTC required for the duty, and LMTD is the <<logmean
temperature difference>>driving force for heat transfer across the heater, and A is
the heater total area. The heat load, Q, can be calculated from the juice flow
rate (JF) and the temperature rise in the juice (Tout - Tin) by the formula
The "log mean temperature difference" can be calculated from the saturated
steam temperature (T,) and the juice inlet and outlet temperatures by the formula:
LMTD =
-'"
Tout - Tin
2,303 lg
lin
Ts - Tout
Obviously, the single or grouped heater can only be run until its HTC drops to
the level of the H Y C required for the job, after which it must be supplemented by
another heater, or relieved of the duty while cleaning is scheduled.
'
'
Pt = O , O O ~ ~ ~ ( D V T ) - ~ ~ ~ 0,1018
V ~ ~ n v 2 (m head juice)
This can be considered a "new" pressure drop expression, which is more exact
than that of Hugot quoted above.
A comparison of the predictions for pressure head loss by the Hugot expression
and the "new" expression abbve is given in Table I for a typical secondary juice
heater with a range of velocity values. It is seen that the "new" expression giver
slightly higher results in this case. The differences between the "new" expression
and the Hugot expression are greater with long tube heaters, the Hugot values
being too high.
Table 1. Comparison of Predicted Pressure Head Losses Throug a Juice Heater
Velocity of
Juice in Tube
(m/s)
Prediction
Hugot (1972b)
(m)
Prediction
this Work
(m)
1,o
1,s
2,o
2,s
3 ,o
3,s
4,o
2,9
6,6
11,8
18,4
26,5
36,O
47,O
3,4
7,4
12,9
19,8
28,l
37,9
49,l
General
A paper by Valdes 'l to the ISSCT conference in Brazil drew attention to the
direct contact methods of juice heating using vapours from the evaporator set. The
advantages and disadvantages of this method have subsequently been explored by
the present author (Wright, Wright and Hutchinson lo), and the performance of
a full factory application described by Young and Westmoreland. l2 Guidelines
for the sizing of contactors have recently been presented by Wright. l 3 A number
of Australian factories have installed such devices for primary juice heating since
1980.
Contactor Performance
Contactor performance can be considered from two angles (a) the general
equipment sizing to achieve a satisfactory "approach temperature" (here defined
as the difference between the saturated vapour temperature of the steam source
and that of the juice leaving the contactor), and (b) the process steam economies
and evaporator loadings generated by the contact heating application.
The equipment sizing can be made to follow the general design expressions for
a rain tray condenser as given by Wright, l3 with the modification that the water
flow W is replaced by the anticipated juice flow to be treated. The vapour flow
can then be estimated for the anticipated juice temperature rise and flow as for a
normal heater. An "approach temperature" performance of less than 3C should
be possible if these guidelines are followed. In pilot plant trials described by
Wright and Hutchinson
both conventional and modified "doughnut-disc" rain
tray internals were used, and volumetric capacity loadings of 100 t/h juice per
1,O m3 of contactor body volume were handled with an ccapproach temperature,,
less than 1C. Measured factqry scale results have not so far been quite as
good. No problems with juice frothing or blockage on the tray have been encountered so far, this being assisted by efficient prescreening of the juice stream. It is, of course, important that the air entering with the juice flow be
minimised by proper level control on the juice inlet tank.
Direct vapour contact results in the condensation of the heating vapour flow
(VF) direct into the juice, and, as this must ultimately be removed in the evaporator station, the total evaporation requirements of the station increase. As discussed by Wright, this re uires an overall increase in multiple evaporator area of
approximately 33 V F m9 for a typical quintuple set, or of 27 V F m2 for a typical
quadruple set where the units of V F are tonne per hour.
Direct contacting also means that, if vapour be taken from the same source
stage of the evaporators as for conventional heating, the overall process steam
economy decreases by VF/N where N is the number of evaporator stages. However, because of the low "aproach temperature" performance possible whith a
direct contactor, it is feasible to take vapour from a source significantly further
down the set. As given by Wright, for every stage further down the set that the
vapour for direct contacting vapour flow V F is selected, an approximately steam
saving of VF/N is achieved. Thus, in typical Australian practice, for primary juice heating shown in Fig. 3, direct contact vapour bleed from No. 4 stage
of a q u i n t u p l e s e t w o u l d give a n o v e r a l l p r o c e s s s t e a m saving of
1
3
2
- ?VF + ,VF =
VF over the conventional use of No. 1 vapour with tubu-
'
,
J
lar juice heaters for primary heating. The flow of final stage vapour to the
evaporator condenser is reduced by a similar amount.
The shifting of heater bleed further down the multiple effect set does cause a
change in the evaporative loading of the individual evaporator stages. As discussed by Wright the evaporative loadings of each evaporator stage "bypassed" by
the change in heating source increase, and that of the remaining stages before and
after the "bypassed" stages are reduced. It can be shown that if M is the number
of stages "bypassed" in a multiple set, the reduction in evaporative loading for
' each remaining stage is given by VF(M-1)/N while the increase in the evaporative
loading of the "bypassed" stages is given by VF(N+l-M)/N. The sum of the
increases and decreases through the set gives an overall evaporation increase of
V F for the entire set as mentioned before. In the example before of vapour bleed
shift from the No. 1 to No. 4 stage of quintuple set, N = 5 and M = 3 so that
the overall evaporation rates relative to the original case - 2VFl5, 3VFl5, 3VF/5,
3VFl5 and - VFl5 respectively for stages 1 to 5. This results in the percentage
changes shown in Fig. 3.
'
Contartor Control
Several methods of oulet juice temperature control have benn used with direct
contact juice heaters. The pilot experiments of Wright and Hutchinson lo used a
temperature sensor in the outlet leg to position butterfly valve in the va our inlet
line. The factory installation described by Young and Westmoreland l4 controls
temperature by throttling the gassing line leading to the vacuum pump. This
gives a slower, but yet satisfactory, control with a relatively small control valve.
Other factory installations use a controlled bypass of unheated juice from the inlet
line direct to the outlet leg, with the temperature sensing of the juice after mixing
ii:.L
I
A
C
D
Hc
Hf
.HR
JF
Kt
Ksc
LMTD
L
N
n
M
Pt
1038
REFERENCES
1. Anon (1936): International Sugar Journal, p. 438.
2. Anon (1969): Crane Valve Co. Technical Paper No. 410.A, p. 27.
3. Crawford, W. R . and Shann, D . S. (1956): Heat Transfer in Juice Heaters. Proc. Int. Soc., Sugar
Cane Technol. 9th Congress, India, p. 103.
4. Hugot, E . (1972): Handbook of Cane Sugar Engineering, Elsevier, 2nd edition, pp. 450-451.
5. Hugot, E. (1972b): Handbook of Cane Sugar Engineering, Elsevier, 2nd edition, p. 445, equation 31.17.
6 . Kern, D . Q. (1950): Process Heat Transfer. McGraw Hill. New York. 1st edition, p. 266,
equation 12.44a.
7. Perry, J . H.(1963): Chemical Engineering Handbood. McGraw Hill. New York. 5.33. Table 5.19.
8. Sieder and Tate, in Perry, J . H . (1974): Chemical Engineering Handbook.McGraw Hill. New
York, 5th edition, 10.14, equation 10.50.
9. Wright,P. G . (1979): Juice Heating by Direct Vapour Contact. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sugar Cane
Technol., 53rd Conference, p. 161.
10. Wrigth, P. G . and Hutchinson, R . T . (1980): A Plant Trial of a Direct Vapour Contact Juice
Heater. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 54th Conference, p. 17.
11. ValdCs, D . A . (1977): Heater Designs for the Cane Sugar Industry. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane
Technol., 16th Congress, Brazil, pp. 2401-2403.
12. Young, R . C. and Westmoreland, A . . (1981): Primary Juice Heating by Direct Vapour Contact.
Proc. Aust. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 55th Conference, p. 17.
13. Wright, P. G. (1982): Rain Tray Condenser Desisgn Notes. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 56th Conference, p . 273.
14. Wrigth, P. G. (1981): Performance Equations for Horizontal Tubular Juice Heaters. Proc. Aust.
Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 55th Conference, p.135.
RESUME
Se basant sur les correlations fondamentales de transmission de'chaleur
et de chute de vapeur appliquees B l'opera'tion de rechauffage du jus en
sucrerie, l'auteur presente des expressions "nouvelles" pour les rechauffeurs de jus tubulaires utilisks normalement. I1 se penche aussi sur la
question du fonctionnement des rechauffeurs de jus par contact direct avec
la vapeur.
RESUMEN
Como resultado de la consideraci6n de las correlaciones fundamentales
sobre termotransferencia y caida de presi6n aplicadas a la operaci6n de
calentamiento del jugo en las fibricas productoras de azucar crudo se
exponen "nuevas" expresiones para 10s calentadores de jugo tubulares
tipicamente utilizados. Se discute, ademis, la operaci6n de 10s calentadores
de jugo por contact0 direct0 del vapor.