3. Consideration of sequential evaporator operation

3.1 Need to consider the production cycle in evaporator design

The nominal capacity of a plant must be determined by taking into account actual running times and production downtimes (start-ups, washing, maintenance). In particular, start-up and commissioning times must not be neglected. It should be noted in passing that some installations are started up directly on the product, whereas some processes require stabilization on water, or even washing and bacterial decontamination, before moving on to the product. The constraints specific to each product and process determine the start-up mode. It is not uncommon for the start-up procedure (vacuuming, heating, washing, stabilization of flow rates and temperatures) to take more than 3 hours.

Last but not least,...