Distillators and vaccum concentrators

Vacuum heat pump distillators and concentration are the ideal technology for the concentration of acqueous solutions, alcoholic or hydro-alcoholic. Usually these solutions are the ones obtained from extration technology and need to be concentrated and their solvent recovered.

Features and applications of heat pump vacuum evaporators

  • vacuum drying plant extracts at a low temperature
  • to obtain extracts concentrated or semi-solid
  • to recover and reuse the solvent
  • to concentrate the must of wine and increase the ancoholic degree
  • to concentrate sugary soltions (agave juice for the production of tequila)

 

Applications

  • to obtain concentrated or semi-solid extracts
  • to recover and reuse the extraction solvent
  • concentration of sugary solutions for example the agave juice for the production of tequila
  • concentration of the must of vinegar in order to increase the density also like jam
  • concentration of olive vegetation water for recovery the polyphenols or other primary substances
  • concentration of enzymes
  • concentration of aromas
The circles with alphanumeric characters indicate the main sensors on the machine. The Roman numerals and dashed rectangles indicate the optional systems and accessories. The numbers next to the inlets and outlets indicate the various connections to the process lines.

Process liquid circuit

The liquid to be treated is sucked into the evaporation chamber D01 as a result of the vacuum created inside it by the vacuum system, without using a feed pump. The feed is controlled by the level switch LS01, which controls the pneumatic valve VP01. The in-line filter F01 removes any coarse material. The bottom of evaporation chamber consists of a heating jacket heat exchanger E01. Inside the boiling chamber there is the scraper, driven by an electric motor-reducer M01. The scraper shape assures a good cleaning of the heat exchanger E01 walls and an efficient stirring. The refrigerating fluid, coming from the heat pump circuit, flows into the heat exchanger E01. The contact between the process liquid and the walls of the heating jacket leads to the boiling of the liquid itself. The generated water vapour rises through a separator in order to remove the liquid droplets. The vapour is then condensed against the heat exchanger E02.

The vacuum system extracts the distillate together with any incondensable gases and sends them to the tank D02. The distillate is continuously discharged by overflow and the incondensable gases are vented with the liquid. The concentrate is discharged automatically according to the equipment operating mode through the opening of the pneumatic valve VP03 and by running of the membrane pump G04.

 Vacuum system

The vacuum system consists of the centrifugal pump G01 coupled with the ejector J01. The ejector uses the distillate produced by the evaporator as the driving fluid. The efficiency of the vacuum system depends on the temperature of the distillate. The opening of solenoid valve EV04 breaks the vacuum inside the evaporation chamber.

Heat pump circuit

The heat necessary to evaporate the liquid and the cooling necessary to condense the steam are both supplied by the heat pump circuit. The refrigerant, in the gaseous phase, is heated by the compressor K20. The liquid then passes through the heat exchanger E01 and releases part of its heat to the liquid to be evaporated. In this way, the refrigerant cools and starts to condense. The finned heat exchanger E04 completes the condensation of the refrigerant, and any excess heat is released into the environment. The refrigerant, in the liquid phase, is sent to the lamination valves TCV20 and TCV21, which cause expansion and cooling. A branch of the circuit joins the exchanger E02 in order to condense the water vapour produced by the boiling of the liquid in the boiler, while the other joins the exchanger E03 to cool the distillate.

The cycle is completed with the joining of the two branches of the circuit and the suction of the refrigerant, in the vapour phase, by the compressor.

 

Models

DRY  MODELS

– The  Dry  Series fit to obtain semisolid concentrates.
– Horizontal boiling vessel with saddle jacket heatt  exchanger.
– Large  hinged front  hatch for inspecting  and  manual  concentrate  extraction.
– Full automatic operation system  by  PLC , display  of  main  parameters  by  LCD  TOUCH  screen.
– Standard manufacturing  AISI 316 – special  alloys  on demand.
– Standard range from 100 t0  1000  L/day  of  evaporated  liquid.

VERTICAL  BOILER  MODELS

– Possibility of concentrate  up  to 30  times  the initial  volume.
– Models  with  heat  pump  from  100 to  24.000  liters / day.