Evaporation of

Difficult Products
by William B. Glover, P.E., Engineering Manager
William L. Hyde, Business Manager
LCI Corporation, Charlotte, North Carolina

Reprinted from the February 1997 edition of

Chemical
Processing
THE MAGAZINE OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
EVAPORATION/ DISTILLATION /CRYSTALLIZATION

Evaporation of difficult products

Agitated thin-film evaporation overcomes common problems

William L. Hyde, Business Manager

William B. Glover, P.E., Engineering Manager
LCI Corp., Charlotte, NC

How agitated thin-film

T
he key to efficient, economical con- horizontal, and can have cylindrical or
centration, distillation or devolatili- technology works tapered thermal bodies and rotors.
zation of a product is selecting the
Agitated thin-Þlm evaporation has been The agitated thin-Þlm or "wiped-Þlm"
technique best suited to the process.
very successful with difficult-to-handle evaporator consists of two major
Tubular evaporators of batch or con-
products. Simply stated, the method quickly assemblies: a heated body and a rotor. The
tinuous types, such as forced circulation,
separates the volatile from the less volatile rotor may be one of several zero-clearance
rising Þlm and falling Þlm, have been
components using indirect heat transfer designs (wiping), a rigid Þxed-clearance
widely used successfully with a variety of
and mechanical agitation of the flowing type or, in the case of a tapered rotor, an
materials. However, they have been less
product Þlm under controlled conditions. adjustable-clearance construction may be
successful with heat-sensitive, viscous,
The separation is normally made under used. The majority of thin-Þlm evaporators
fouling or high-boiling liquids. vacuum conditions to maximize ∆T while in operation today is the vertical design
Degradation due to long residence time,
maintaining the most favorable product with a cylindrical Þxed-clearance rotor.
fouling of the heat transfer surface,
temperature, and to maximize volatile Within the vertical design evaporator,
plugging of tubes, and low heat transfer
stripping and recovery. the product enters the unit tangentially
coefficients and high pressure drops dueA variety of thin-Þlm evaporator designs above the heated zone and is distributed
to high viscosities are common operating
is commercially available today. Thin-Þlm evenly over the inner circumference of the
problems. evaporators can be either vertical or body wall by tne rotor (Fig. 2). Product
spirals down the wall
while bow waves
Fig. 1. Operating mechanisms of agitated thin-film evaporation. developed by the
rotor blades generate
Turbulent highly turbulent flow
Liquid Film and optimum heat
flux (Fig. 1). Volatile
Heated Wall components evapo-
rate rapidly. Vapors
Bow Wave can flow either co-
currently or, more
Rotor commonly, counter-
Blade currently, and are
ready for condensing
or subsequent
processing as they
leave the unit.
Non-volatile
components are
discharged at the
bottom outlet.
Continuous washing
by the bow waves
minimizes fouling of
the thermal wall
where the product or

February 1997 CHEMICAL PROCESSING

EVAPORATION/ DISTILLATION /CRYSTALLIZATION

ditions in the process acids;

Fig. 2. Vertical agitated thin-film evaporation. zone are important for ■ PuriÞcation of isocyanates;
highly reactive products. ■ PuriÞimprovements of essential oils;
Agitated thin-Þlm evap- ■ Improved shelf life and reactivity for
orators have a wide herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
Vapor processing ßexibility,
(counter- and a single system can Concentrating foods, pharmaceuticals
current) often be designed to Temperature-sensitive food and phar-
Feed process different maceutical products with the highest
products under varied quality standards can be successfully
operating conditions. concentrated by thin-Þlm processors.
Agitated thin-Þlm Diluted feedstocks can be concentrated
technology is a good to Þnal speciÞcation in seconds without
choice for processes or recirculation, thereby preserving quality
Product products containing
Flow and yield.
vaporizable or partly As the solids content of the stream
Rotor vaporizable components increases, temperature sensitivity and
that must be removed viscosity generally increase, creating the
to improve quality, need for short residence time. Agitated
Heating yield/recovery, opera- thin-Þlm technology fulÞlls these needs
Jacket ting economy or environ- while inducing high heat transfer.
mental containment. Typical applications are:
■ ÒDryingÓ of lecithin to 99.5%;
Sensitive organic ■ Concentration of sugar solutions to
chemicals 99.9%;
Agitated thin-Þlm ■ Concentration of enzymes, vitamins
evaporation systems are and proteins;
widely used in the ■ Concentration of fruit and vegetable
distillation of high- purees;
boiling and temperature- ■ Concentration of cheesebase;
Vapor ■ Concentration of biological solutions;
(co-current) sensitive organics. The
short residence time and ■ Stripping of solvents from vegetable
the ability to operate at and plant extracts;
Concentrate low internal pressure ■ Removal of water and solvents from
and without static head fermentation broths (e.g., antibiotics).
(reducing boiling points)
results in products of Resource recovery
excellent quality and high yields. Agitated thin-Þlm evaporation systems
are used extensively in the puriÞcation
Agitated thin-Þlm evap- When stripping an organic volatile from
and recovery of resources such as solvents
a fluid, a bottoms with minimum volatile
oration systems are widely content can be obtained. This is accom- and oils. The ability of agitated thin-Þlm
plished by a high mass transfer rate in the evaporation systems to handle difficult
used in the distillation of diffusion of volatiles from the thin agitated streams and their ßexibility make them
Þlm. Many such organic materials are hard well-suited to this application.
high-boiling and tempera- to handle because of their high boiling Typical applications for puriÞcation
points, high melting points, tendency to and recovery include:
ture-sensitive organics. foul heat transfer surfaces and the potential ■ Recycling solvents from paints,
for degradation when exposed to heat. greases, oils and resins;
Typical applications for this process ■ Recovery of organic products from
residue is most concentrated. include: tars and residues;
■ PuriÞcation of chlorinated hydrocar- ■ Recovery of acetic acid from waste
The combination of short residence
time, narrow residence time distribution, bons, monomers and other chemical inter- residue streams;
mediates; ■ Vacuum distillation and puriÞcation
high turbulence and rapid surface renewal
permits the agitated thin-Þlm evaporator ■ Purification and separation of of used motor oils;
components in petrochemicals and in ■ Distillation and recovery of pure
to successfully handle heat-sensitive, viscous
and fouling streams. Low product inventory natural oils; glycerine from crude streams;
■ Purification and separation of fatty ■ Volume reduction of inorganic salt
and operation at near-equilibrium con-

February 1997 CHEMICAL PROCESSING

streams in the nuclear industry;
■ Recovery of polymer in plastic-coated
paper recycling.
Devolatilization of viscous products
For many products, viscosity increases
rapidly as concentration rises or poly-
merization reactions near completion. This
is an area where mechanically agitated,
transported thin-Þlm processors provide
a signiÞcant advantage.
Specially designed rotors make it possible
to transport materials with viscosities of
up to 15 million cp through the evaporator.
Agitated thin-Þlm evaporators also provide
higher heat and mass transfer efÞciencies
for viscous ßuids than are possible with
other equipment, such as flash pots and
vented extruders.
Typical applications for devolatilization
are:
■ Removal of reactants, solvents and
monomers to ppm levels from engineering
and other thermoplastics;
■ Removal of monomers and volatile
solvents from acrylic resins;
■ Removal of free phenol and water
from phenolic resins;
■ Reaction and removal of caprolactam
from Nylon 6;
■ Removal of monomers from silicone
polymers;
■ Reaction and removal of condensates
from polyesters.
The mechanical and process technolo-
gies for mechanically agitated thin-Þlm
evaporation systems are proven and reliable
and should be considered whenever an
application proves difficult for conventional
tubular evaporators. Frequently a tubular
and agitated thin-film evaporation
combination is the optimum solution.
■ To receive more information on agitated
thin-film evaporationÑLCI Corporation,
Charlotte, NC.
LCI Corporation
PO Box 16348
Charlotte NC 28297-8804
Phone 704-394-8341
Fax 704-392-8507
Email info@lcicorp.com
www.lcicorp.com