Technology

and application
EVATHERM EVATHERM
02 03

evatherm evaporation
is a company with worldwide activities in
the field of process engineering focused on
evaporation and crystallization.
crystallization
EVATHERM is an independent company, majority owned by
its employees. The head office is located in Switzerland with
branches in Germany and Hungary.

EVATHERM was founded in the early eighties by specialists

highly experienced in thermodynamics and process engineer-
ing. The company founders worked before for more then 20
years in the evaporation department of the former ESCHER nological know-how, it is now established in the international
WYSS. In the very beginning of its history, EVATHERM has market with a top ranking among the leading suppliers of
been for 10 years a member of the former HPD group (USA). evaporation and crystallization plants.
This close cooperation resulted in an exciting merge of the
EVATHERM’s engineers are continuously improving the com-
different crystallization experiences.
pany’s expertise by innovative research and development of
Within a short time, the company has developed into a me- new technologies. Their effort is documented in the exten-
dium size contractor. As a result of its comprehensive tech- sive reference list of satisfied customers.
EVATHERM EVATHERM
04 05

Evaporators and Crystallizers

VAPOR VAPOR

EVAPORATOR/
CRYSTALLIZER
EVAPORATOR/
CRYSTALLIZER
LIVE STEAM PURGE
VAPOR
LIVE STEAM
LIVE STEAM
HEAT EXCHANGER
SALTSLURRY
HEAT EXCHANGER CONDENSATE
SALTSLURRY

CONDENSATE COUNTER CURRENT BRINE

CONCENTRATE
CONDENSATE PURGE
LIVE STEAM
VAPOR

FEED

CONCENTRATE
CONDENSATE
Forced circulation crystallizer Growth type crystallizer
FEED FEED The MSMPR (Mixed Suspension Mixed Product Where crystal growth is critical, our CSMPR
Removal) and the MSCPR (Mixed Suspension (Classified Suspension Mixed Product
Classified Product Removal) crystallizers Removal) growth type crystallizer can be
are the classical devices to crystallize salts. applied.

Falling film evaporator Rising film evaporator As the name implies, the liquor in a forced-circulation evapo- The growth type crystallizer consists of a concentric two-body
rator is pumped through the tubes to minimize tube scaling arrangement connected by a central downcomer. The lower
The falling film evaporator is particularly used A rising film evaporator is primarily used
or salting when precipitates are formed during evaporation. body (retention or growth chamber) supplies the necessary
in application, when the driving force between to concentrate non-salting and non scaling
volume and fluidization characteristics for developed super-
heat transfer medium and liquid is small. liquors. Slurry is pumped from the bottom cone of the vapour body
saturation release and crystal growth. The supersaturation is
through the tubes of the heat exchanger, where heat is add-
released upon a fluidized bed of crystals classified by particle
In a falling film evaporator with separate vapour body and If a high increase of concentration in one evaporator stage is ed, and back into the vapour body where evaporation oc-
size resulting in controlled crystal growth. By removing the
heat exchanger the liquor is fed into the top liquor chamber required, the rising film evaporator can be the optimal choice. curs. Sufficient liquor height is maintained above the heat
crystalline products from a specific location in the classified
of the heat exchanger where it is distributed to each tube. The The rising film unit is a very simple and economical device exchanger to suppress boiling in the inlet and prevent sur-
bed, a distinct crystal particle size can be targeted.
liquor accelerates in velocity as it descends inside the tubes with high heat transfer rates and high availabilities. Opera- face boiling on the tube surface. A high circulation rate is
because of the gravity and drag of the vapour generated by tion of the rising film evaporator is straightforward. Liquor is provided for adequate tube velocity to achieve good heat The upper body (vapour body) is used for evaporation ap-
boiling. Liquid is separated from the vapour in the bottom liq- fed into bottom of the heater. There it is heated with steam transfer. A sufficient quantity of salt crystals is suspended in plications where sufficient surface area and disengagement
uor chamber of the heat exchanger. The concentrated liquor or any other suitable heat medium. If the vapour pressure of the circulating system to provide seed crystals in the boiling height is required for vapour release. An external pump pro-
is discharged from the bottom cone of the vapour body. the feed equals or exceeds the system pressure, vaporiza- zone for salt growth. Adherence to these basic principles of vides recirculation from the retention chamber through the
tion will occur immediately. crystallization results in coarse crystals and minimal wall and heat exchanger.
Evaporation occurs inside the tubes of the falling-film evapo-
tube scaling.
rator. The unit can be used to concentrate the same non- The liquor climbs up inside of the tubes and therefore ad- Our growth type crystallizer can produce a narrow distribu-
salting liquids concentrated in rising-film evaporators, and it ditional vapour is generated and the velocity of the liquor-va- EVATHERM Radial Inlet Adapter provides excellent mixing tion of larger crystals. Typical applications for these systems
is suitable for concentrating more viscous liquors. pour mixture increases to a maximum at the end of the tubes. of slurry in the vapour body and generates a very low «ther- can include ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate and po-
The liquor-vapour separation takes place in the evaporation mal short circuit». tassium chloride.
The retention time for liquor in these evaporators is less than
body by gravity and by an entrainment separator.
that for a rising-film evaporator. The combination of short A MSCPR crystallizer is additionally equipped with a so Depending on the specific product requirements, the growths
liquid retention time and the ability to operate at a low dT called elutriation leg (salt leg). The counter current brine re- type crystallizer can also be equipped with an elutriation leg.
makes the falling-film evaporator ideal for concentrating the places the mother liquor and thereby high purity salt is re-
most heat-sensitive materials. moved from the crystallizer.
EVATHERM EVATHERM
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Technologies

EVAPORATOR/ VAPOR
CRYSTALLIZER TO CONDENSER MAKE-UP STEAM

EVAPORATOR/
CRYSTALLIZER

LIVE STEAM

HEAT-
EXCHANGER
SCRUBBER HEAT-
EXCHANGER
PURGE

COMPRESSOR
PREHEATER CENTRIFUGE

SALT TO DRYER

FEED CONDENSATE PREHEATER PURGE

PREHEATER FEED
LIVE STEAM
CONDENSATE
PREHEATER
SALT SLURRY
BALANCE
TANK TANK
CENTRIFUGE

SALT TO DRYER

FILTRATE

Multiple Effect Evaporation Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR)

If low pressure steam for heating is available, the Multi-Stage If electrical power on a favourable price is available, a vapour recompression
Vacuum system is preferred. Purity levels can be set by the application process can be the logical choice. EVATHERM has improved the Mechanical
of the adequate elutriation and purge systems. Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology and became industry standard.

The Multiple Effect Evaporation plant is maybe the most clas- Achieving an optimal design means to find the optimum be- An evaporation plant with Mechanical Vapour Recompres- The main characteristics of a MVR system are
sical process for evaporation plants. The principle is quite tween energy- and investment costs. Beside of the correct sion (MVR) works like an «open heat-pump» (Carnot proc- summarized below:
simple. The first effect is heated by live-steam; the following number of effects the preheating concept plays the most de- ess), where the vapours are recompressed up to the pressure v almost no steam consumption
stages are heated by the vapours of the upstream unit. With cisive role. Sophisticated preheating systems make the dif- level of the heating steam. The driving energy for the evapo- v no cooling water requirement
the number of effects the live steam consumption can be ference between standard and «high-end» installations. ration process results from the isentropic enthalpy increase v flexible operation
reduced accordingly. of the vapour steam. The vapour condensate and the purge
In order to ensure optimal plant efficiency in terms of primary
stream as well are used to preheat the feed nearly to the op-
The number of effects can not be increased arbitrarily as the energy consumption, the steam should be generated at high- The thermo-dynamical design of such a unit has to be done
eration temperature of the unit. Due to this intensive heat re-
maximal available temperature range is given. On the low- er pressure in order to utilize the exergy for power generation very carefully in order to operate the compressor on its high-
covery the make-up steam consumption is in the most cases
temperature end (the last effect) the ambient conditions such by a counter pressure steam turbine or better a gas or steam est efficiency. Very important is the design of the crystallizer.
nearly zero.
as cooling water or air temperature are limiting factors. On turbine cogeneration unit. The back pressure steam can be As the economy of the MVR process depends on the neces-
the high-temperature end the available steam pressure, me- used to heat the evaporation plant. At a low evaporation ca- The compressors are volumetric rotating machines, which sary pressure increase of the vapours. The so called «ther-
chanical design and the corrosion resistance of the selected pacity, where the utilization of a cogeneration system is not mean they work with a constant volumetric flow rate on a mal short circuit» should be minimized or entirely be avoided;
material determines the upper limit. feasible, the overall efficiency can be improved by thermal given speed. Subsequently the steam mass flow varies de- good experiences have been made with the EVATHERM
vapour recompression system called TVR (ejector system). pending on the suction pressure of the compressor. MSCPR Crystallizer with radial inlet nozzle.
EVATHERM EVATHERM
08 09

Technologies

FLASH CRYSTALLIZERS COOLING CRYSTALLIZERS

LIVE STEAM

VAPOR TO
PREHEATER CONDENSER
COOLING WATER
VAPOR TO
CONDENSER

VAPOR TO COOLING
LIVE STEAM CONDENSER AGGREGATES

CRYSTALLIZERS

RAW SALT

DISSOLVER

FEED BRINE
SLUDGE
CENTRIFUGE
SALT TO DRYER

CLARIFIER SOLID/LIQUID
COLD BRINE TANK SEPARATION
UNIT
SLUDGE
PURGE PRODUCT

Recrystallization Cooling crystallization

Recrystallization of solid salt is a process which renders The cooling crystallization can be applied when the solubility gradient of
very high purity salt using comparably little thermal energy the solution increases steeply with falling temperature or when a vaporisation
and chemicals. of the solvent has to be avoided.

In opposite to the 2 processes described before the Recrys- ed brine which goes into the saturators. Process heat losses Depending on the specific task a vacuum cooling or a sur- with operating temperatures of -10° C to -20° C have already
tallization Process requires solid salt as feed input. Principally are compensated by means of booster heaters. Especially face cooling process, which is an atmospheric process, can been realized successfully.
cold dissolving and hot dissolving of the solid salt as well is advantageous is the application of an additional cogenera- be applied.
A combination of both technologies shows the figure above.
possible, hereunder the hot dissolving process is described. tion unit in form of a diesel generator, where the waste heat
At the vacuum cooling crystallisation the supersaturation of A sophisticated Cooling Energy Recovery makes this proc-
can be used for the heat loss compensation.
The Recrystallization Process is very similar to the multiflash the solution is caused trough the evaporation of the solvent ess as a valuable and feasible alternative to other processes.
evaporation plant. The undersaturated recirculation brine is and through the cooling of the mother liquor as well. The
getting saturated with solid salt at atmospheric pressure and The specific advantages of this process are evident: crystallizers are designed as flash units very similar to the
Possible applications can be:
it will be led downstream into the several flash crystallizers v very high product purity evaporators used in the recrystallization process. The vacu-
v Na 2SO4 / Glaubersalt crystallization
working on different pressures. Due to the temperature drop v low specific steam consumption um is generated by means of high performance ejectors with
v Potash- and Magnesium salt recovery
in each crystallizer water evaporates and subsequently the v low chemical consumption condensing system.
oversaturation will start the crystallization. The purge from v almost neutral water balance
On the other hand, at the surface cooling crystallisation the
the last crystallizer will be pumped through preheaters col- (only a few make-up water needed)
supersaturation is only a result of the temperature decrease
umns (mixing condensers), where the cold saturated brine
of the liquid. EVATHERM’s surface cooling crystallizers are
will be mixed with the hot vapours coming from the evapora-
An interesting alternative can demonstrate the combination characterized by proper supersaturation control and limited
tors. Finally the output from the columns is an undersaturat-
of the Recrystallization with a MVR System. scaling tendency, even at very low temperature. Installations
EVATHERM EVATHERM
10 11

Applications

Block diagram of a modern salt plant

ELECTIRICAL PUBLIC NET INTERNAL ELECTRICAL CONSUMERS

NATURAL GAS
The applications of EVATHERM’s technology are as versatile as the GAS ELECTRICAL SALT DRYING DRY SALT
chemical industry itself. Reliable technology and well functioning plants AIR
TURBINE ELECTRICAL
ENERGY
POWER
DISTRIBUTION
PLANT STORAGE
AND
DRY SALT

are the company’s strength. HANDLING

EVATHERM continues to improve the existing technology EVATHERM’s process plants and equipment has been suc- HOT FLUE GAS WET SALT

in order to achieve higher energy efficiency, better product cessfully used for many years for different applications. Fol- FLUE GAS HIGH PRESSURE
quality and reduced operating costs. Through its close co- lowing some typical applications: STEAM LIVE STEAM SALT WET SALT
BOILER DEWATERING STORAGE WET SALT
operation with the clients and its extensive experiences in UNIT AND
LIVE STEAM HANDLING
the chemical industry EVATHERM develops new processes CONDENSATE
tailored to the specific demands of the clients. FILTRATE
SALT SLURRY FRESH WATER

WASHWATER
STEAM SEALINGWATER UTILITY
TURBINE ELECTRICAL ENERGY WATER
STATION
LOW PRESSURE VAPOR
LIVE STEAM
CRYSTALLIZATION CONDENSATE
PLANT
Salt Works LIQUID PURGE

Salt is an important component of our live. The demand of the industry WATER
TREATMENT
COOLING WATER SUPPLY COOLING WATER RETURN

in high purity NaCl is continuously increasing. The production of

NaCl belongs to the most energy consuming processes in the base
chemical industry.
BOILER MAKE UP WATER

Therefore it is decisive to choose the most suitable process The Chemical Brine Treatment is the key to optimal salt PURIFIED BRINE
considering all environmental and energy aspects in order to purity with low chemical consumption. EVATHERM has ex-
ensure the economic efficiency for a long term. tensive experience in batch purification and can supply a FLUE GAS
FLUE GAS BRINE
system that takes all relevant factors into consideration for (CO2) TREATMENT
EVATHERM belongs to the worldwide leading engineering COMPRESSOR REACTOR II
best results. CHEMICALS SLUDGE
companies serving the salt industry. Independently from the
raw material source – solar salt, rock salt, brine or seawater, A modern salt plant does not consist only of an evapora-
EVATHERM will find the optimal process that suits the cus- tion plant, moreover the whole production process has to be SEMI PURIFIED BRINE

tomer’s needs in terms of energy efficiency, product purity considered beginning with the raw material input and ending MOTHER
LIQUOR
and purge handling. with the final product handling. Special attention has to be CHEMICAL BRINE RECYCLING SLUDGE
CHEMICALS CHEMICALS
paid to the energy generation, which is the key question for CONDITIONING TREATMENT DECANTER
Yearly several million tons of salt is produced in numerous REACTOR I
the profitability of a vacuum salt plant. The following block SLUDGE
EVATHERM salt plants world wide.
diagram shows an example of such a comprehensive survey
integrating the energy generation by means of a cogenera- RAW BRINE

We have the know-how and capability to offer the full tion unit into the overall process.
technological range for modern salt production: SEA WATER SOLUTION RAW BRINE SLUDGE
PUMPING MINING RAW BRINE STORAGE FILTRATE DILUTING
v Solar salt works (by partners) STATION PUMPING
STATION
BUFFER

v Salt wash- and upgrading plants

v Solution mining (by partners)
v Chemical brine treatment
v Vacuum salt plants by MVR, Multiple-effect,
Recrystallization
v Salt handling and packing SEA
UNDERGROUND ENGINEERED BY EVATHERM
CAVERNS
EVATHERM EVATHERM
12 13

Applications

NaOH CONCENTRATOR BRINE PRECONCENTRATION NaCI CRYSTALLIZER Na2SO4 CRYSTALLIZER

VAPOR TO CONDENSER

LIVE STEAM
chemical industry

EVATHERM’s evaporation and crystallization systems are utilized in many

LIVE STEAM diverse operations in the processing of numerous inorganic and organic
CONDENSATE substances for chemical firms. The following listing highlights some main
applications in the chemical industry:
NaOH FEED
(32 %)

NaOH CONCENTRATE (50 %) Potash- and Fertilizer Industry Caprolactam Industry

DEPLETED BRINE NaCI v Crystallization of diverse Potassium and Nitrate salts v Crystallization of (NH4)2SO4
Na2SO4 PRODUCT
v Effluent treatment
v Magnesium salt recovery And many others…
CONCENTRATED BRINE
TO ELECTROLYSIS

Detergent Industry
Chloralkali Industry v Production of Na 2SO4 salts from different sources Environment Protection
All industrial facilities are affected with today by increasing
The chloralkali industry is an integral part of the economy of many countries
around the word. EVATHERM provides innovative solutions for the brine circuit, Power Industry environmental awareness. Everybody becomes environmen-
tally responsible by recycling and reducing contaminated ef-
sulphate removal and caustic concentration.
v Cooling tower effluent treatment fluents. EVATHERM contributions to these efforts are innova-
tive concentration, purification and separation technologies
Beside of the know-how for Caustic Soda Concentration The combination of a Caustic Soda Concentration Unit to-
for:
Units and modern Salt- and Brine Purification Plants,
EVATHERM owns a dedicated technology for the sulphate
gether with a Thermal Sulphate Removal Process shows one
of the latest developments in the Chloralkali Industry (see
Pulp and Paper Industry v Evaporation plants for scrubber effluents
removal from the depleted brine circuit. Instead of a precipi- process flowsheet above). A sophisticated process link on v Black liquor concentration v Zero discharge systems for power stations
tation with Ba-salts, a Thermal Sulphate Removal Pro- the steam side brings significant savings in the consumption v Selective product or by-product recovery
cess can be a more environmental friendly and economical of thermal energy and investment costs as well. from waste water
solution. By means of a so called Fractional Crystalliza-
Our technology for the Hypo-Chlorite Recovery is an im-
Mining- and Metal Industry v Caustic- and acid concentration plants
tion the sulphates are crystallized as Na 2SO4, which is a
portant contribution to our commitment to the environment v Contaminated water evaporation
valuable by-product for the industry. Different solubilities for
protection. v Metal recycling processes
each compound on different temperatures are the driving
v Treatment of galvanic waste water
force for the selective separation of Na 2SO4 from a NaCl-
Na 2SO4 -NaClO3 -brine.
EVATHERM EVATHERM
14 15

SERVICES

Our business is focused on the engineering, delivery of key equipment and

complete turn-key installations as well. Extensive technical services complete
our range of assistance such as

Consulting services After sales services

v feasibility studies v training of staff
v operation and plant analysis v commissioning
v supply of spare parts

Engineering studies v revision

v trouble shooting
v basic engineering services v construction supervision
v HAZOP studies
v authority engineering

Pilot Plant Facility

Plant installations As an expression of our commitment to continuous process
v detail engineering services development, we have established a modern laboratory and
v equipment supply pilot plant. Many of our projects have been initiated here,
v plant modernizations whether it is a new process concept or it is the investigation
v turn-key installations of unknown physical properties.
HEAD OFFICE SWITZERLAND
EVATHERM Ltd
Hintermättlistr. 3
Gewerbepark
CH – 5506 Mägenwil
Phone +41 62 889 79 00
Fax +41 62 889 79 01
[email protected]
www.evatherm.com

GERMANY
EVATHERM GmbH
Dübener Strasse 17
D – 06774 Muldestausee
Phone +49 342 08 71 295
Fax +49 342 08 71 297
[email protected]

HUNGARY
EVATHERM KFT
Beregszász tér 16
H – 1118 Budapest
Phone +36 1 246 37 77
Fax +36 1 246 37 87
[email protected]