Fruitprocessingplant.com / Plant engineering
Fruit concentrate plants with explicit feed and utility boundaries
Concentration begins with a defined juice or puree stream. Establish its properties, the water-removal duty and final handling conditions before selecting equipment.
Name the evaporator feed
Whole-fruit tonnes per hour are not evaporator feed tonnes per hour. Define the recovered juice or puree, its measured flow, soluble and insoluble solids, temperature, viscosity and particle behaviour. Upstream extraction losses and any dilution must be accounted for before the concentration boundary. The same target solids can describe materially different products when their fibres, sugars and other components differ.
Use a balance that matches the material
A simple retained-solids balance calculates concentrated mass as feed mass multiplied by inlet fraction divided by target fraction. The remaining mass is water removed only under the stated assumptions. Refractometer Brix must be a suitable proxy on both sides; additions, entrainment, insoluble material and compositional changes may require a fuller balance. The result is a preliminary material requirement, not an evaporator rating.
Compare thermal and mechanical requirements
Review falling-film distribution, circulation, residence time, fouling, heat sensitivity and cleanability against the product. Effect count and vapour recompression are configuration choices that need a utility and economic assessment, not automatic energy savings claims. Record available steam conditions, cooling capacity, condensate handling and electrical supply. Define aroma recovery only if the product and project scope justify it.
Carry the changed properties downstream
Concentrating a product changes pumping, heat transfer, cooling and filling requirements. Specify the intended discharge condition and how concentrated product reaches the validated preservation and packing system. Include usable tank inventory, start-up and shutdown recovery, cleaning duration and off-spec handling. Agree whether utilities, building works and commissioning materials are included or supplied by the site owner.
Define the missing conditions
- Is the concentrate feed a specified juice or puree?
- Are the inlet and target solids comparable on the same basis?
- What viscosity, fouling and particle limits apply?
- Which steam, cooling, electrical and downstream handling conditions are available?