With evaporation, the challenge is to remove as much water as possible from your product as efficiently as possible. It can either be done using electricity or steam, depending on the most readily available source. A second challenge is to ensure there is always product flowing in the tubes of the evaporator, to prevent them from becoming blocked and causing fouling.
Tetra Pak is one of the world’s three main producers of evaporators. We build them up to 20 metres high with fans driven by motors at 600 – 700 Kw. However, what really makes our offer stand out from the crowd is the level of expertise among our evaporation specialists. We know how to treat your products!
We can calculate the vapour velocity and the wetting rates and set precisely the right temperature to prevent harming the product. We can also calculate the heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator, which is a challenge since the viscosity of the liquid changes between entering and leaving the evaporator, and viscosity affects heat transfer.
Hygienic equipment design and gentle process treatment are necessary to get a high quality end product while avoiding contamination. The evaporation process and associated pre-heating has a significant impact on the desired functionality and microbiology of the powder. Using DSI (direct steam injection) we quickly move product from one temperature to another and cool it back down again with minimum damage to the product. Our knowledge of whey protein, lactose and calcium phosphate chemistries are critical in manipulating the process to ensure maximum efficiency and product quality. We help you get control over your evaporation process, and thereby also maximise the time between cleaning occasions.
Increasingly, we also use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques to simulate trials, before carrying out physical tests in the pilot plant. CFD is also used to create an optimal line design with the minimum consumption of energy, water and other utilities.
