An in-depth look at the importance of the distillation process.

For any processing plant that involves liquid processing at some level to correctly produce the desired end product, distillation is bound to be needed in the process. Distillation is the most critical part of the various liquid control and monitoring systems that are in place to ensure optimum chemical composition and quality of the liquid. The results or outcomes of the distillation process directly influences the quality of the end-product that is being manufactured at the processing plant.

Types of Distillation

Distillation is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation. Distillation can achieve complete separation (for highly pure components), or a partial separation, that effectively increases the concentration of the desired components in the mixture. In either case, the process exploits differences in the relative volatility of the mixture’s components.

There are 5 known ways to conduct the distillation process;

1. Simple Distillation- This process involves purifying a liquid mixture by heating it in a distillation flask and bringing the liquids to their boiling points. The liquid with the lower boiling point will evaporate and the vapours can be collected in condensation flask.

2. Double distillation: This process involves repeated distillation on the collected                    liquid, in order to enhance the purity of the separated compounds.

 

3. Steam Distillation: In this process, steam is introduced to the apparatus and the temperature of the compounds are depressed by vaporizing them at lower temperature. This is done to distil temperature sensitive compounds without damaging/decomposing them.

 

4.Vacuum Distillation: Vacuum distillation is a special method of separating compounds at a pressure lower than the standard atmospheric pressure

 

5.Fractional Distillation- This process is almost same as the Simple Distillation, but the mixture is divided into fractions and then distilled using a special column called fractional columns or distillation columns.

Out of all, the Fractional Distillation process is known to be the most effective one. It requires a relatively simple setup and has shown some considerable benefits, especially when it comes to liquid processing in large-scale plants.

Here are a few advantages of fractional distillation;

1. It is highly fuel efficient
2. The setup is quite easy to implement
3. Works for any type, size or scale of industry
4. Can handle all types liquid waste streams
5. Easier to separate miscible liquids

Distillation in industries:

Distillation serves as the backbone of most processing plants across all industries.  It is one of the most important steps in the manufacturing of gasoline, diesel and bio fuels.  Distillation columns or fractionating columns are widely used as they facilitate optimum results for strict industrial requirements.

A few industry examples in which distillation is used as a core step;

1. Crude oil refineries: Crude oil is made up of thousands of liquid hydrocarbons, in which hundreds of other solid based hydrocarbons are dissolved. The oil is distilled into liquid fractions with different boiling point ranges which are then further processed.

 

2. Liquid processing: Distilled water is commonly used in most parts of the world for drinking purposes, as well as for use in the manufacturing other beverages. Hence, it plays a big role in wastewater treatment. Alcoholic beverage production also uses distillation to increase the concentration of ethyl alcohol, giving greater potency and flavour.

 

3. Healthcare: Drug manufactures desire an extremely high consistency in quality, which can be manufactured in industrial quantities economically. Distillation gives pharmaceutical companies a comprehensive control over purity and consistency, and enables them to produce large amounts of the desired substances.

 

4. Bio-fuels: Distillation is also used in Bioethanol production. Unlike fossil fuels, bio-fuel is made from organic substances like starch and sugarcane, which contain water. Distillation helps in extracting the biofuels from the organic solids and purify them further.

 

5. Food Processing: Steam distillation is typically used in the food industry for the preparation of some volatile oils. It is also used in the removal of some taints and flavours from edible fats and oils.

Praj industries is a major manufacturer of distillation columns, and one of the most prominent Corn Ethanol Producers in India with over 30 years of industry expertise.

From pioneering Bioethanol production technology to mastering Zero Liquid Discharge systems, Praj industries offers a plethora of high-tech engineering solutions. like scrubbing, Ultrafiltration Equipment and evaporation systems, that are highly customized and match international standards of quality and output. To learn more about Praj’s complete offerings, kindly visit www.praj.net 

How to choose the right type of Heat Exchanger?

Heat exchangers are a critical part of Process equipment. To work efficiently, they need to fit in perfectly in any processing plant’s ecosystem.  That means it needs to be precisely suited to the type of liquid(s) it is used for.  Selecting the right heat exchanger involves a thorough review of all the basic parameters and design specifications, that tell you about its competency and its specific area of application.

In today’s time, it’s very easy to get confused with the wide variety of heat exchangers available in the market.  From a basic perspective, all heat exchangers perform the same function. But when it comes to optimizing the plant’s production process, heat exchangers need to be selected very carefully.

You may think… Why some heat exchangers are chosen over others?  The answer to that is performance!

A heat exchanger is fundamentally designed to perform under very specific settings i.e. for specific ranges of liquid viscosity, temperature, pressure etc.  These may even overlap between 2 types of heat exchangers but mostly, they are meant for the thermal processing of only a particular set of products. That’s why, processing plants in various industry domains like food, dairy, chemical or pharmaceutical, work with different heat exchangers.

Distinguishing heat exchangers based on technical parameters:

To get optimum results, one must select a heat exchanger based on 2 aspects; Heat exchanger specifications and fluid properties.  Before going into that, you need to understand the basic principle or the basic process of how a particular heat exchanger works.

So we have made a list of different heat exchangers that define each one’s operation process, along with the technical parameters that will help you identify each one as a distinct product.

Here’s a list of 5 different heat exchangers:

1. Plate heat exchanger:

Plate heat exchangers use metal plates to transfer heat between two fluids. They are units that are made with a number of corrugated metal sheets or heat transfer plates clamped together in a frame. The adjacent plates are spaced by gaskets, which form a narrow, uninterrupted space through which liquid flows. The fluids are separated by the gaskets and pass through alternate channels. By arranging these channels in groups, several fluid streams can be accommodated at once.

Technical Parameters:

Temperature (^oC): 150 to 250
Pressure (PSIG): 150 to 300

Viscosity: less than 20,000 cPs.

 Best used for:

Plate exchanger is the most efficient due to turbulent flow on both sides (viscous to viscous liquids). Also, it’s a great option for tight spaces as due to its compactness, efficiency and ease of maintenance. They work with liquids with less than 5% of nonabrasive solids, generally in the micron-size range.

2. Shell & Tube heat exchanger:

This heat exchanger consists of a shell (a large pressure vessel) with a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows over the tubes (through the shell) to transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of tubes is called a tube bundle and may be composed of several types of tubes.

Technical parameters:

Temperature (^oC) >500
Pressure (PSIG): >1,500

Viscosity: less than 10,000 cPs.

Best used for:

Due to its peculiar configuration, Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers can be used to transfer heat to a variety of materials, including asphalt and water-based liquids with very low solid content. They heat materials through the use of either hot oil or steam.

3. Spiral Heat Exchanger:

The Spiral Plate Heat Exchanger is actually a family of heat exchangers based on the basic Type A spiral core. As the name indicates, it contains a pair of flat surfaces that are coiled to form the two channels in a counter-flow arrangement. Each of the two channels has one long curved path. A variety of spiral heat exchangers can be created by adding or taking away weld-seams and head arrangements.

Technical parameters:

Temperature(^oC): up to 900

Pressure(PSIG):  > 1500

Viscosity: upto 20,000 cPs.

Best used for:

Spiral systems suitable for a multitude of applications.  They can be used for slurries, liquid nitrogen and highly viscous liquids like fatty acids and much more.

4. Scraped surface heat exchanger:

This type of heat exchanger consists of a cylinder that has an inner tube and an outside tube. The media flows counter-current to the product, inside an annular space between the two tubes. Inside the inner cylinder, a rotating bladed shaft is positioned concentrically to continually agitate and remove the product from the heat exchange wall areas.

Technical Parameters:

Temperature (^oC): >200
Pressure (PSIG): 500

Viscosity: up to 100,000 cPs

5. Kettle:

Kettle is a type of a Reboiler heat exchanger, typically used to provide heat to the bottom of industrial distillation columns. They boil the liquid from the bottom of a distillation column to generate vapours which are returned to the column to drive the distillation separation. Kettle Reboilers may require pumping of the column bottoms liquid into the kettle, or there may be sufficient liquid head to deliver the liquid into the Reboiler.

Technical Parameters:

Temperature (^oC): >120
Pressure (PSIG): 50 to 75

Best used for:

All types of liquids as it is open tank operation.

Best used for:

Heavy fouling and crystallizing applications. This product works best with liquids with solid contents greater than 75% to normal, and for complex or sensitive products that require gentile processing.

This list will give you a clear understanding of how to go about choosing heat exchangers for various processes.  Whether you’re buying a tubular product or a spiral based, you need one that will do justice to the type of liquids you are working with.

Praj Industries is on the leading Heat exchanger suppliers in India. It offers highly advanced and reliable solutions for bioenergy, high-purity systems, Bioethanol Production wastewater treatment and more. To learn more about their products, visit their websiteà www.praj.net

 

 

Role of Zero Liquid Discharge System in Waste Water Treatment

Water is one of the most valuable natural resources that require special attention in today’s date. Water scarcity is a major issue that needs to be addressed. While there is sufficient water on the planet to supply millions of people, it is not equally distributed, and the majority is wasted, polluted or managed unsustainably. Increased efforts are being directed towards the removal of the wastes from water so that recovered freshwater can be reused.

For this purpose, a waste management system, named as Zero Liquid Discharge System is being focussed by municipalities, governments and companies. The system is designed to treat the contaminated water where all water is recovered and contaminants are reduced to solid waste. While there are ample of other water treatment processes designed to recover maximum freshwater and minimize waste, Zero Liquid Discharge is the most popular of all.

Zero Liquid Discharge or ZLD is widely used for industrial waste water treatment that helps to decrease the waste quantity & recover fresh water for reuse. Although ZLD seems to be a perfect approach, it is a complex process that requires huge investment & sophisticated machinery. Extraction of water from waste means handling salinity, scaling compounds, and organics, which finally adds up to the cost.  Despite the challenges, the system is the optimum choice for industrial waste water treatment.

Listed here are some of the advantages of zero liquid discharge system that industrial process or facility can derive by adopting the ZLD system at their site:

• Waste management cost is considerably reduced due to the lowered waste volumes.
• Minimal dependence on external resources for water consumption as the majority of water is reused.
• Contribution towards Improved environmental performance
• Elimination of administrative fines resulting from environmental pollution.
• Some processes may recover valuable resources, like ammonium sulfate fertilizer or sodium chloride salt that can be put to other applications.

An enormous volume of wastes and discharges are being generated today and it is increasing at a very fast pace. The heavy contamination of rivers, lakes and other water bodies pose critical challenges and there are possibilities that this phenomenon will make it difficult for nature to assimilate them. Thus, initiatives are required by the respective governments to make regulatory reforms in wastewater treatment. Moreover, systems like ZLD can also play a crucial role in tackling the issue.

A Comprehensive Guide to Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers

Heat exchangers are parts of industrial equipment that are deftly designed for facilitating the process of exchanging heat from one fluid(liquid or gas) to another fluid(liquid or gas). The purpose or the objective of heat transfer could be either for heating or cooling the elements of the fluids. The essential feature of the heat exchanger is that heat transfer occurs without the need of bringing the two fluids together. In industrial plants and factories, heat exchangers are widely used to keep the machinery, chemicals, gas, and other substances within a safe operating temperature.

There are different types of heat exchangers available in the market that employ different setups, equipment, and design features. While all the heat exchangers operate on the same principle, they work in different ways. Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers is one of the most commonly used heat exchanger widely used in industrial process applications like in refineries and chemical industries. Consisting of a sealed shell and a number of metal tubes, these heat exchangers are specifically designed to exchange heat flow between two fluids in enormous quantities.

How does it Work?

The two fluids of different temperatures are made to pass through the heat exchanger, where

one fluid flows through a set of metal tubes, the other fluid passes through a sealed shell that surrounds them. The heat transfer takes place between the fluids through the tube walls. The fluids can be either liquids or gases.

Shell and tube heat exchangers are used in various industrial applications due to their expertise in performing tasks such as:

• Cooling of hydraulic and lube oil
• Condensing process vapor or steam
• Cooling of turbine, compressor, and engine
• Evaporating process liquid or steam

What are the Advantages of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers?

 The equipment is highly preferable by the industrial units due to its robust structure and its ability to transfer a huge amount of heat at a relatively lower cost. Moreover, the shell and tube heat exchangers provide sufficient and effective tube surface that minimizes the requirements of floor space and liquid volume.

1. Suitable for systems with higher operating temperatures and pressures.
2. Any leaks in the tubes can be easily detected and fixed.
3. Tubular coolers in the refrigeration system can also serve as a receiver.
4. Sacrificial anodes can be used to protect the entire cooling system against corrosion

There are many Heat Exchanger Suppliers in the market that are offering different types of heat exchangers-varying in capacities and functioning. Praj Industries is one of the leading  Heat Exchanger Suppliers offering Critical process systems and equipment to several processing industries. Over the years they have successfully catered to the demands of numerous companies and have made their mark in the industry.

Know All About Ethanol-The Benefits And The Making

Rapid depletion of natural resources(petroleum, crude oil, gasoline etc,) their rising prices and harmful emissions are the concerns that set the momentum for alternative fuel. Ethanol has emerged as the right solution to the problem. Ethanol is now being viewed as the best substitute for petroleum that is largely used by vehicles across the globe. Hence,  endeavors are being directed towards enhancing ethanol production process in several bio-based industries. Ethanol can be used in its pure form or it can be blended with other gasoline constituents.

Why ethanol is the favored substitute for petroleum?

Ethanol is a highly preferred alternative to traditional gasoline fuels because it is economical and environmental-friendly. It is produced from agricultural waste products that are rich in sugar and starch. Coming from the surplus agricultural waste, ethanol extraction does not interfere with food production. Moreover, ethanol-fueled vehicles are considered to be more eco-friendly as they emit less carbon dioxide. Even the ethanol-blended fuels such as E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline) can lead to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 3.9%.

Derived primarily as a result of conversion of the sun’s energy, ethanol is also a renewable source. Ethanol formation starts with photosynthesis, when crops, like sugar cane, corn etc, grow using sunlight. These feedstocks are then processed into ethanol. When it burns as fuel it emits water and carbon dioxide. This is used in the next cycle of ethanol production.

Other applications of Ethanol

Apart from being used as biofuel, ethanol is also used in the production of beverages. It is the principal component of alcoholic beverages like whiskey, rum, vodka. Ethanol also finds application in the making of paints, varnishes, perfumes, pharmaceuticals, industrial solvent etc.

Ethanol Production

Ethanol is obtained from crops or plants that have large amount of sugar or constituents that can be converted into sugar. Plants like sugarcane, sugar beets and molasses, corn, wheat, grains etc are ideal raw materials for ethanol production. Fermentation process is the most widely used method for producing ethanol. Synthetic ethanol is created from non-renewable sources like coal and gas.

Ethanol from molasses and other feedstock can be obtained by two methods- dry milling process and wet mill process. Approximately 90 percent of the grain ethanol comes from the dry milling process and the remaining 10 percent is produced from wet mills

Dry Milling Processes includes the following processes:

• The crops or plants are grinded up for easier processing .
• The sugar present in the ground feedstock is dissolved
• Next the sugar is fermented with yeast to produce ethanol.
• The ethanol is then distilled and dehydrated to attain a higher concentration.
• Gasoline or other additive(denaturant) is then added to the product to make it suitable for further use.

Due to the growing popularity of ethanol applications, researches are being conducted to develop more advanced techniques for ethanol production.  So, in the days to come, we can look forward to more dynamic roles of ethanol.

The Future of BioFuel in India

Since the time we have heard the word ‘fuel’, we have always been taught to think of it as a highly valuable resource, forever on the verge of extinction. Hence our brains have been auto-wired to use fuel conscientiously. Be it in a vehicle, in a cooking stove, for automobile, or simply for burning things, a fuel contains all the fire we ever need. Certainly then, man has always been striving to devise various ways to develop alternate fuel in the lab, fearing the day when we run out of fossils!

BioFuel is one such advancement in the field of fuel production. They are regarded as cleaner and greener alternatives to fossil fuels. They can be produced in a Bioenergy plant. Whether BioFuel will be able to fully replace the non-renewable fuel sources effectively, is a matter of time. Technically speaking, Biofuel is a universal term used for fuels derived from biomass, such as plants and organic wastes. They are mainly classified as first generation & second generation biofuels.

The first generation biofuels include sugar and starch-based ethanol, oil-crop based biodiesel, vegetable oil, as well as biogas derived through anaerobic & aerobic treatment plants. The second generation biofuels are an upgrade to the production of first-generation biofuels. In that, the raw materials are derived from the feedstock of lignocellulosic, non-food materials that include straw, bagasse, forest residues and purpose-grown energy crops on marginal lands. There are also third and fourth generations which are still undergoing heavy research. These technologies look fairly far fetched to become a practical and commercially viable reality as they insist on using algal biomass and solar energy to produce fuel.

Current Challenges

As of 2014, India’s biofuel production accounted for less than 2% of global production. Bio-ethanol and bio-diesel are the two biofuels that are commercially produced. In India, ethanol is predominantly produced from sugarcane molasses which is a byproduct of sugar production. The Ethanol production process in India, therefore, depends largely on the production of sugarcane. Sugarcane being a seasonal crop in India, the production is cyclical. Hence, ethanol production also keeps fluctuating from one year to another, often falling short of demand. This also affects the cost of ethanol.

Regulatory Measures to tackle challenges

In spite of the production hurdles, biodiesel can provide a major boost for the energy security of our country. The govt. of India has come up with the National Policy on Biofuels 2018, which includes harnessing of biodiesel to meet the energy needs of the country. The purpose of this policy is to enable availability of biofuels in the market to increase its blending percentage. Currently, the ethanol blending percentage in petrol is around 2.0% and biodiesel blending percentage in diesel is less than 0.1%. The government has approved 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel is proposed by 2030. Additionally, on World Biofuel Day, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched RUCO – Repurpose Used Cooking Oil, an ecosystem that will enable the collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel.

The Policy aims to increase bioethanol production and usage of biofuels during the coming decade. The biodiesel can work as an effective and great alternative for a growing country like India. It is indeed the future if we want to move towards becoming a clean and green nation.

Understanding the brewing technology behind the making of a beer

It does not come as a surprising fact, especially today, to know that beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world. Not to mention, it’s the oldest form of alcoholic beverage known to mankind. No wonder, it has still stood the test of time and is, in fact, growing stronger and in some cases, mild(pun intended)! With the growing number of restaurants and bars around the planet, beer has seen heavy demands from the consumers. The recent years have seen a growth in beer manufacturers especially in the city outskirts. Many bars have even turned into breweries by installing their own mini beer plant in the bar, even as an art piece, to serve the customers with freshly brewed beer. Have you then wondered what goes behind the making of a beer, let’s find out!

 STAGES OF BEER PRODUCTION

Preparation of Malt:

Firstly, the fully ripened grains such as barley, are soaked in cold water until saturated. The grain then germinates releasing enzyme such as malt diastase which converts the grain to sugar for fermentation. The grain is then roasted after a few days to stop the germination process. This is where the color and flavor of the beer is decided depending on the timing of roasting. The resultant product is referred to as ‘malt’.

Preparation of Mash:

The malt is crushed using metal rollers and then transferred to a copper or steel tank. This is where the malt is mixed with water to create a viscous mixture called ‘mash’. The temperature of the vessel is increased gradually from 100 to 180°F so that the enzymes react, In effect, breaking down the starch and converting them into simple sugars. This sugar will later be converted into alcohol by yeast.

Lautering and Wort creation:

The liquid filtered from the mash is transferred into another tank called the lauter tun. This sweet tasting liquid derived from the mash is called ‘wort’. This wort is then transferred to the brew kettles where hops are added after boiling and sterilization. The brew kettles are made of copper around 2 to 3.5 m in diameter with the height of a two storey building. The filtered wort is then sent to the fermentation tanks.

Fermenting and aging:

The stringently monitored fermentation tanks prevent any unwanted bacteria from entering the mixture. The wort is fermented with yeast at a set temperature which is gradually reduced over a time. The yeast consumes the sugar in the wort, emitting carbon dioxide in the process. And voila, this wort is now a beer albeit a raw one! This newly formed beer is further filtered and stored in the caging casks at a regulated temperature for several weeks. This process is called ‘aging’. The longer the aging the more the alcohol content.

Pasteurizing:

Once the process of aging is done, the beer is pasteurized by heating the beer at high temperatures, to kill any remaining bacteria from the yeast and prevent further ‘alcoholization’ of the beer. This beer is then refrigerated.

Bottling:

The final stage of brewing sees the beer getting packaged into containers of all kinds. The bottles are sterilized and dried thoroughly to increase its shelf life.

Beer production is indeed a time consuming but beautiful process. With the advances in Beer brewing technology, it is now a highly profitable and affordable business to set up your own beer manufacturing unit. Beer manufacturing produces several byproducts such as animal feed, molasses etc that can be used by other industries such as food, medicine, and fertilizer. This opens an avenue for additional sources of income.

Why Wastewater Treatment Plants Are The Need Of The Hour

Wastewater is any water that has already been used. It could be used by residences, commercial or industrial establishments, which has become too polluted for further use. Typical Industrial effluents contain residual acids, metals, salts and toxic chemicals. The combination between all these causes the resulting mix to contain both suspended and dissolved organic and inorganic substances such as carbohydrates, fats, soaps, synthetic detergents, as well as various natural and synthetic organic chemicals.

Do we need to treat this water?

Why of course! There are so many reasons why wastewater treatment is required. The primary reason being that we simply cannot allow contaminated water to be mixed with our rivers and streams which are the lifeline of any civilization. Wastewater has various catastrophic effects on all life forms.

Typical effects on the environment and human life

• Impacts the aquatic life.
• Disturbs the PH balance.
• Induces unwanted salts into the water.
• Affects the environment nearby.
• Adds heavy elements to the soil killing its natural composition.
• Carries and promotes diseases.
• Potentially affects human health.

Effluents are an undesirable byproduct of every industry. Yet, thankfully, they are treatable.

Ways to treat Industrial wastewater

There are various ways to treat industrial effluents such as Bio-methanation, Evaporation & crystallization, Scrubbing etc. The industrial water treatment systems treat waste so as to convert them into usable water. There are industry-specific treatments pertaining to the manner of wastewater produced. For example; In the food industry, where the waste matches domestic greywater and blackwater, the water is purified using the bio-methanation plant. In this process, a family of bacteria is used to break down the waste and transform the organic matter into biogas containing a generous amount of methane and carbon dioxide. After the second level of filtration, this water is deemed fit to return back to the environment.

Another process is that of evaporation which separates the water from its components. This isolates the salts, heavy metals and a variety of hazardous materials from the wastewater. This energy intrinsic technique is also very effective when you need to recover certain elements from the water before disposal.

One of the popular techniques used especially for salt recovery from wastewater is Crystallization. It is considered one of the best treatments for desalination, water, and salt recovery. It has been widely used in engineering applications throughout the world. There are various crystallization techniques such as evaporation crystallization, cooling crystallization, etc among others.

In the least bit, water pollution is an eyesore. Access to basic drinking water is becoming a luxury, especially with the ever-increasing population and ever depleting water resources. Less than 1% of the planet’s water is fit for consumption. Considering the situation might just get worse, water preservation then becomes a pressing issue requiring our urgent attention.

Industries can do their bit by installing a wastewater treatment plant and process the effluents before releasing them into the water reservoirs. The Industrial water treatment systems treat water so as to make it fit for a given use, i.e. not just for consumption and manufacturing, but even for disposal. There are various technologies available depending on the usage and desired outcome. As an industry, the realization to have a wastewater treatment plant in place is a great leap towards the betterment of the environment. The intent then is to do it right, and do it on time!