Swenson Technology, Inc.

What is an evaporator?

     An evaporator is used to evaporate a volatile solvent, usually water, from a solution. Its purpose is to concentrate non-volatile solutes such as organic compounds, inorganic salts, acids or bases. Typical solutes include phosphoric acid, caustic soda, sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, gelatin, syrups and urea.
     In many applications, evaporation results in the precipitation of solutes in the form of crystals, which are usually separated from the solution with cyclones, settlers, wash columns, elutriating legs, filters or centrifuges. Examples of precipitates are sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, sodium carbonate and calcium sulfate. The desired product can be the concentrated solution, the precipitated solids, or both.
    In some applications, the evaporator is used primarily to recover a solvent, such as potable water from saline water. In any case, the relatively pure condensed water vapor from many evaporators is recovered for boiler feed makeup, salt washing, salt dissolving, pump seals, instrument purges, equipment and line washing and other uses.

Swenson evaporator experience

     Swenson Technology, Inc. is named after a chemical engineering pioneer. Magnus Swenson (1854-1936), a Norwegian immigrant and engineer. Following his first evaporator invention in 1886, a submerged, steam-heated, horizontal-tube evaporator, Swenson formed his own company to build evaporators, crystallizers and other process equipment for a number of diverse industries. Literally thousands of evaporators have been built bearing the Swenson name.
     Swenson has long maintained a fully equipped test center for development and feasibility testing. This facility includes rising- and falling-film evaporators, a forced-circulation evaporator and other process equipment. Operation is typically "around the clock" and tests with centrifuges, filters and dryers can be made so that the laboratory process will duplicate the commercial process as closely as possible for customer evaluation.

Copyright 2002 Swenson Technology, Inc.