The Chemical Engineering Design of a Commercial Citrus Evaporator for the Production of 6,539.86 kg/hr Orange Juice Concentrate in Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa

Chemical engineers are high in importunity by industries in a wide range of sectors for the following impetus: Based on nominally defined problem statements, such as a client need or a set of experimental ramifications, chemical engineers can devise and gain a profound understanding of fundamental physical science relevant to the enigma, and harness this apprehension to excogitate a comprehensive action plan and a set of detailed specifications that, if implemented, will lead to forecasted financial dividends. In this treatise, as chemical engineers, apply our scientific and mathematical knowledge, specifically chemistry, applied mathematics, and engineering concepts, to translate experimental or conceptual ideas into value-added products in a lucrative, safe (environmentally friendly), and industry-leading manner. Citrus sinensis is the scientific name for orange, a savory and aromatic fruit from the Rutaceae family. The annual global citrus production increased dramatically over the last few decades, from around 30 million metric tonnes in the late 1960s to an estimated total of more than 105 million metric tonnes from 2000 to 2004, with oranges accounting for more than half of total global citrus production. Evaporation is a principle habituated in the processing industry to concentrate aqueous liquid streams by vaporizing the quantity of water content in a solution. The curtailment of energy consumption for evaporation reckoned on multitudinous components, such as evaporation capacity, number of effects, operation efficiency, and annual operation hours. We emphasized burgeoning efficient strategies to curtail the energy consumption of evaporators and alluded that monitoring the rate of energy dissipation guarantee the sustainability of an industrial enterprise. We betokened the heat transfer area was the indispensable criterion in the design of an evaporator and delineated correlations for estimating the size of the tube bundle. Ideally, a well-designed evaporator should be able to transfer heat adeptly at a high flow rate, have the minimum valuation of installation, operation, and maintenance, be able to bifurcate vapors from liquid concentrates, meet the conditions required by the product under treatment, produce a product of a quality required, and, if possible, be energy efficient. The peculiar grade of evaporator adopted was the 5-effect, 8-stage Thermally Accelerated Short Time Evaporator. We embraced the genre of evaporators after investigating their benefits relative to other evaporators used in food processing. In addition, it is fundamental to institute governance to identify benchmarks for optimal distribution based on results obtained by all segments of the production chains and orange juice exporters. This input will benefit the collective national interest and is pivotal for the orange juice industry.