LCI - Thin Film And Wiped Film Evaporators
An LCI agitated thin film evaporator (TFE) or wiped film evaporator (WFE or 'wiffe') provides short residence time and open, low pressure drop configuration, allowing continuous, reliable processing of many heat sensitive, viscous, or fouling materials without product degradation.
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Thin Film Evaporator Fast Facts
LCI Thin Film Evaporators provide successful concentration, distillation, and separation of the most difficult to process fluids with a combination of:
- Extremely short residence time
- High turbulence
- Narrow residence time distribution
- Rapid surface renewal
LCI’s thin film evaporators quickly separate more volatile from less volatile components using indirect heat transfer and mechanical agitation of a flowing product film under controlled conditions. Either the vaporized component (distillate) or the concentrated component may be the product depending on the application.
Common Operations for Thin Film Evaporators
- Concentration
- Resource recovery
- Devolatilization
- Evaporation
- Purification
- Finishing
- Distillation / Fractionation
- Solvent Recovery
- Drying / Dehydration
- Reactions
- Reboiling
- Stripping
How Thin Film Evaporators Work
An inherently simple device, the LCI agitated thin film evaporator (also commonly referred to as a 'wiped film evaporator') consists of two major assemblies: a heated body and a rotor.
Product enters (1) above the heated zone and is evenly distributed over the unit's inner surface by the rotor. As the product spirals (2) down the wall, bow waves (3 in illustration above) developed by the rotor blades generate highly turbulent flow, resulting in optimum heat flux and mass transfer.
Volatile components are rapidly evaporated. Vapors flow either counter-currently (4) or co-currently (5) through the unit, depending on the application. In both cases, vapors are ready for condensing or subsequent processing.
Nonvolatile components are discharged at the outlet (6). Continuous washing by the bow waves minimizes fouling of the thermal wall where the product or residue is concentrated most.
The combination of 1) extremely short residence time, 2) narrow residence time distribution, 3) high turbulence, and 4) rapid surface renewal permits the LCI thin film evaporator to successfully handle heat-sensitive, viscous and fouling-type fluids.
Rotor Designs
LCI offers thin film / wiped film evaporator designs in a wide range of configurations.
Rotor Designs
- Fixed Clearance for all horizontal designs and most vertical applications for less viscous liquids, generally less than 50,000 cps
- Drying for solids-containing streams from which liquid must be evaporated or distilled
- Wiped Film/Hinged Blade for materials with very high fouling tendencies or vaporization ratios
- Transported Flow provides positive transport for viscous materials which do not flow by gravity—usually those of 50,000 cp or more
Rotor Orientation
- Vertical is used for most applications. The vertical configuration provides reliable, efficient processing of viscous and fouling fluids. Units are available with either an internal or external bottom bearing.
- Horizontal designs are ideal for applications where longer residence times are required for mass transfer and reactions, or where headroom is limited. The tapered configuration allows adjustment of the rotor clearance to control residence time, and assures heat transfer surface wetting at low throughput rates.
Vapor Flow
- Countercurrent is used for most vertical applications since it maximizes both heat and mass transfer efficiencies and accommodates internal vapor/liquid entrainment separation.
- Co-Current is the best choice for applications where there is heavy vapor loading, foaming, or flashing.
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