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Concept
Evaporator
Summary
An evaporator is a device used to turn a liquid into a gas.
Some air conditioners and refrigerators use compressed liquids with a low boiling point that vaporizes within the system to cool it, whilst emitting the thermal energy into its surroundings.
Evaporators are often used to concentrate a solution. One example is the climbing/falling film plate evaporator, which is used to make condensed milk.
Similarly, reduction (cooking) is a process of evaporating liquids from a solution to produce a "reduced" food product, such as wine reduction.
Evaporation is the main process behind distillation, which is used to concentrate alcohol, isolate liquid chemical products, or recover solvents in chemical reactions. The fragrance and essential oil industry uses distillation to purify compounds. Each application uses specialized devices.
In the case of desalination of seawater or in Zero Liquid Discharge plants, the reverse purpose applies; evaporation removes the desirable drinking water from the undesired solute/product, salt.
Chemical engineering uses evaporation in many processes. For example, the multiple-effect evaporator is used in Kraft pulping, the process of producing wood pulp from wood.
Large ships usually carry evaporating plants to produce fresh water, reducing their reliance on shore-based supplies. Steamships must produce high-quality distillate to maintain boiler-water levels. Diesel-engine ships often utilize waste heat as an energy source for producing fresh water. In this system, the engine-cooling water is passed through a heat exchange, where it is cooled by concentrated seawater. Because the cooling water, which is chemically treated fresh water, is at a temperature of , it would not be possible to flash off any water vapor unless the pressure in the heat exchanger vessel is dropped.
A brine-air ejector venturi pump is then used to create a vacuum inside the vessel, achieving partial evaporation. The vapor then passes through a demister before reaching the condenser section.
Official source
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