Evaporation & distillation in food industry

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1. OBJECTIVE


In both evaporation and distillation, liquid components are removed from liquid phase food products by applying heat. In the case of evaporation, water is removed from the liquid mixture, while in the case of distillation components of the liquid mixture are separated by partial vaporization. Deodorization is a steam distillation process used for the removal of highly volatile compounds (BAT in the Food, Drink and Milk Industries, June 2005).


2. FIELD OF APPLICATION


Evaporation is applied in most food industry sectors like dairies, fruit and vegetable production, sugar production, wine and meat production, while distillation is mostly used in the production of aroma, essences and alcoholic drinks. Deodorization is typically used in the refining of edible oils and fats, while it’s also used in other processes, e.g. production of decaffeinated coffee (BAT in the Food, Drink and Milk Industries, June 2005).


3. DESCRIPTION OF TECHNIQUES, METHODS AND EQUIPMENT


In the case of evaporation, heat is applied to the liquid food and water content evaporates, leaving the surface of the liquid product and increasing its concentration. Different types of evaporation equipment can be used,


4. COMPETITIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND ENERGY SAVING POTENTIALS

Depending on the process, different methods can be used to achieve energy savings. In the case of evaporation, multiple effect evaporators (BAT in the Food, Drink and Milk Industries, June 2005), vapour recompression (BAT in the Food, Drink and Milk Industries, June 2005), membrane processing (Northwest Food Processors Association). and regular cleaning (BAT in the Food, Drink and Milk Industries, June 2005) of the equipment can lead to important energy savings. In the case of distillation and deodorization, membrane distillation is an emerging technology that can also result in energy savings (Emerging Energy-Efficient Technologies in Industry: Case Studies of Selected Technologies, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory University of California, May 2004).


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