Paper Production requires a tremendous amount of steam. Spindle
operated units provide important energy savings because of their ability to compensate for
variations in the temperature of the dryer and changes in discharge pressure.
Petro-Chemical Processing Equipment such as dryers, stills, strippers and deodorizers usually
discharge water vapor at relatively low pressures. A thermcompressor compresses this vapor to a reusable
higher pressure.
Desalination Multi effect evaporators used in seawater desalination utilize Croll-Reynolds
Thermocompressors after the final effect to capture and recycle energy which might otherwise be wasted.
Food Concentrates such as fruit and vegetable juices, tomato paste, etc., are processed in
evaporators and dryers. Significant savings can result from recompressing the vapors removed from
the food products and then returning them to the process at a higher temperature.
Pharmaceutical Products are frequently heat sensitive, requiring evaporation or drying at
relatively low temperatures. Thermocompressors yield maximum efficiency when operated at the low
temperature ranges required for such applications.
Dairy and similar evaporators normally operate under a partial vacuum to minimize potential
heat damage to the food flavor. Thermocompressors cut costs here.
Evaporators
Evaporators lend themselves to the use of thermal recompression as an effective method
of achieving significant reduction in live steam consumption. A portion of the overhead vapors, which
contain significant latent heat can be recycled to the steam chest.
The thermocompressor essentially replaces the pressure regulator or the reducing valve that controls
steam pressure and temperature for evaporation. Under most conditions Thermocompressors can easily be applied to
single and multiple-effect units.
A thermal recompression evaporator can operate over a much wider range of pressures than a typical
mechanical recompression unit. More importantly, a Croll-Reynolds Thermocompressor requires relatively
low capital investment to achieve meaningful energy savings in the overall operation. Properly applied, a
savings equivalent to the addition of another effect at a substantially lower equipment and installation
cost can be realized.
Users typically specify thermal recompression in the initial design of their units.
In existing installations, evaporators may be retrofitted to increase thermal efficiency
and, in some cases, to increase the quality of the end product.
Mixers
Croll-Reynolds Thermocompressors can also be used for mixing gases (steam, air, natural gas, etc.) at
different temperatures or different pressures to achieve an intermediate condition. The proportion of
the two gases can be accurately and consistently controlled. The proportions of the mixture are limited
only by the motive-to-load ratio.
Paper Dryers
The regulation of steam temperature on the rolls of Yankee Dryers, used in the Paper Industry, is an
ideal application for a Spindle Operated Thermocompressor . The pneumatically controlled unit maintains
the pressure drop across the dryer to allow for the Delta P through the rolls, flash tank and piping.
Efficient temperature control is achieved in several other industries with thermocompressors as well.
Waste Heat Recovery Systems
It is in the area of energy conservation that the Thermcompressor exhibits its most cost-effective
advantage. In this type of application “waste” high temperature condensate is collected in a centralized
flash chamber then flashed at atmospheric temperature and re-circulated. Condensate from heating jackets
or kettles can be flashed, recompressed by the Thermocompressor, and then recirculated to the
jacket, with significant savings in energy costs.
