Simulation of an agitated thin film evaporator for concentrating orange juice using AspenPlusTM Original Research Article

The focus of this research is on the concentration of orange juice in agitated thin film evaporators (ATFE). The AspenPlus™ simulation program was used to develop a model of the ATFE. A rigorous heat exchanger model, Heatx followed by the rigorous 2-phase flash model, Flash2, was used to simulate the dominant effects of the ATFE. The thermo-physical properties of orange juice are not available in the AspenPlus™ databank. They were, therefore, determined experimentally and modelled as functions of temperature and solid content. Heat transfer coefficients were predicted using correlations and measured from process measurements. Experimental and simulation results are presented. The AspenPlus™ simulation model using experimentally determined thermo-physical properties of orange juice compares well with the experimental data from the ATFE pilot plant. Process measurements were reconciled using the optimisation features of AspenPlusTM.