The Balcke-Duerr falling film plate evaporator - an innovative concept for evaporation in the cane industry

Since the push by the Australian Government to engage energy retailers to deliver approximately 2% of their power out of renewable energy sources, the use of bagasse for power production has become of major interest. The consumption of bagasse, therefore, becomes a clear focus point on the need to increase efficiency in the modem sugar factory. The evaporation plant is one of the bottlenecks of production that needs to be considered. To reach the goal for a maximum payback, the falling film plate evaporator is one option available that assists in increasing steam efficiency by retrofitting into existing evaporator vessels. A combination of efficiency and capacity .increases can be achieved in one stage with minimum investment compared to new installations. The resulting steam demand On cane of approximately 30% instead of 45-50% can be achieved. The falling film technology offers additional benefits of low temperature differences between steam and vapour as well as low colour formation and reduced sugar losses due to short residence times of the juice. This report will provide an overview about the principle of falling film plate technology, related in particular to the developmems in the energy sector within Australia and the flow-on effect those developments have on sugar mills. That is, a focus on efficiency.