Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

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Applied Mathematical Modelling

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apm

Modeling and dynamic simulation of mixed feed multi-effect evaporators

in paper industry
Deepak Kumar a,b,⇑, Vivek Kumar b, V.P. Singh b
a
Department of Mathematics, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, UP, India
b
Department of Paper Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, UK, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A wide range of mathematical models for multiple effect evaporators in process industry
Received 30 August 2010 including paper industry are well reported in the literature but not so extensive work on
Received in revised form 16 February 2012 the dynamic behavior of MEE system is available in the literature. In the present study
Accepted 29 February 2012
dynamic behavior of multi-effect evaporator system of a paper industry is obtained by
Available online 8 March 2012
disturbing the feed flow rate, feed concentration, live steam temperature and feed temper-
ature. For this purpose an unsteady-state model for the Multi-effect evaporator system is
Keywords:
developed. Each effect in the process is represented by a number of variables which are
Multiple effect evaporator
Mixed feed
related by the energy and material balance equations for the feed, product and vapor flow.
Fsolve A generalized mathematical model which could be applied to any number of effects and all
Ode45 kinds of feeding arrangements like forward feed, backward feed, mixed feed and spilt feed
Boiling point rise in the MEE system with simple modifications was finally obtained. Finally model for mixed
Dynamic response feed sextuple effect falling film evaporators system was solved using MATLAB. For the
steady state and dynamic simulation the ‘fsolve’ and ‘ode45’ solvers in MATLAB source
code is used respectively.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Pulp and paper industry is an energy intensive industry. Huge amount of raw material, chemical, energy and water are
consumed in the process of paper manufacturing. One such energy intensive subsystem, Multi-effect evaporator system
(MEE), is used to concentrate black liquor from pulp mill. Rao and Kumar [1] indicated that the Multi-effect evaporator
system alone consumes around 24–30% of the total steam consumed in a large Indian paper mill.
The multiple effect evaporators (MEE) system in paper industry consists of a number of evaporators in series and large
number of permutation and combinations are possible for feeding of black liquor and live steam. Dynamic behavior of such
system can only be studied by mathematical modeling and simulation.
A wide range of mathematical models for multiple effect evaporators in process industry including paper industry are
well reported in the literature. These mathematical modeling of MEE system are based on linear and non-linear mass and
energy balance equations, and relationships pertaining to the physical properties of the solution. These mathematical models
are differentiated on the basis of the heuristic knowledge, which is incorporated in their development.
Various researchers have solved the mathematical models of MEE system of various process industries by using different
solution techniques to obtain steady state simulation [2–19]. Some of them also have performed steady state simulation for
MEE system of the paper industry [1,2,8–10,15,16,19,20] by solving the models using numerical techniques. The authors

⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Mathematics, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, UP, India. Tel.: +91 8126421115; fax: +91 132 2714311.
E-mail address: dkr2009@gmail.com (D. Kumar).

0307-904X/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2012.02.039
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 385

Nomenclature

A shell area, m2
BPR boiling point rise, °C
C constant
Cp specific heat of water at constant pressure, kJ/kg K
F feed, kg/s
h enthalpy, kJ/kg
L liquor level, m
M mass, kg
Pl liquor density
t time, s
T temperature, °C
U overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC), kW/m2 K
W mass flow rate, kg/s
X solid content, kg solids/kg total
k latent heat of vaporization

Subscripts
c condensate
i effect number
l liquor
v vapor

[1,2,8–10,20] have used Newton–Raphson method with Jacobian matrix and method of Gauss elimination with partial piv-
oting supplemented with LU decomposition with the aid of Hilbert norms, and FORTRAN-77 language for computer pro-
gramming. While the authors [15,16,19] simulated the MEE system using FORTRAN-90 and run the Pentium IV machine,
using Microsoft FORTRAN power station 4.0 compiler.
Although the methods of design and steady state operation of single and multi-effect evaporators are well documented in
the literature but not so extensive work on the dynamic behavior of MEE system is available in the literature. The dynamic
behavior of two or three effect MEE systems in process industries like sugar, food, desalination and paper etc. is studied by
few researchers [12,21–26]. Miranda and Simpson [12] described a phenomenological, stationary and dynamic model of a
multiple effect evaporator (tomato concentrate) for simulation and control purposes. Andre and Ritter [21] adequately
described the open loop dynamic response of a laboratory scale double effect evaporator (for concentrating the sugar solu-
tion) by a simple mathematical model based on the unsteady state material and energy balances associated with the various
elements of the system. Bolmstedt [22] developed a computer program for simulation of the dynamic behavior of general
multiple effect evaporation plants. El-Nashar and Qamhiyeh [23] developed a simulation model for predicting the transient
behavior of Multi-effect stack-type (MES) distillation plant. Tonelli et al. [24] presented a computer package for the simula-
tion of MEE for the concentration of liquid foods and studied the dynamic response. Narmine and Marwan [25] developed a
dynamic model for the MEE process to study the transient behavior of the system. Svandova et al. [26] has performed the
steady-state analysis and dynamic simulation of a methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) reactive distillation. Stefanov and
Hoo [27] developed a distributed parameter model of black liquor falling film evaporator, based on first principles knowl-
edge and heat transfer processes for evaporation side of single plate (lamella) of a falling film evaporator. Stefanov and
Hoo [28] further expanded a single plate model to develop a fundamental model of a falling film evaporator that accounted
for the condensation side of the plate, the heating/flashing at the evaporator entrance, the evaporator inventory, mixing and
recirculation flows but neglecting the effect of BPR.
In the present investigation dynamic behavior of mixed feed six effect evaporators system is studied. For this purpose the
mathematical model of sextuple effect (tubular falling film with liquor flow inside the tube) falling film evaporator system of
a paper industry is developed based on the work reported by Narmine and Marwan [25]. Further the parametric equations
were solved for steady state conditions by vanishing the accumulation terms in model equations by using ‘fsolve’ solver in
MATLAB source code. To study the transient behavior of the MEE system the solution of simultaneous ordinary differential
equations for sextuple mixed feed evaporator is obtained by using ‘ode45’ solver in MATLAB source code and the steady state
solution is used as the initial value.

2. Mathematical modelling

In the present investigation effect of BPR is also considered for and the mathematical modeling is developed for sextuple
falling film evaporator system with mixed feed based on the work proposed by Narmine and Marwan [25]. In the mixed feed
sequence the feed is given to 5th effect and thick liquor coming out from 5th goes into 6th and from 6th to 4th and from 4th
386 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

Wv2=Wl3-Wl2 Wv3=Wl4-Wl3 Wv4=Wl6-Wl4 Wv5=F-Wl5 Wv6=Wl5-Wl6

Steam

Wl5

Wl2 Wl3 Wl4

Wl6
Feed (F)

c1 Product
c2 c3 c4 c5 c6

Condenser

Fig. 1. Flow diagram of sextuple mixed feed evaporator (? 5 ? 6 ? 4 ? 3 ? 2 ? 1).

Black
Vapour liquor Inlet
Steam/Vapour Inlet Outlet
Wli+1
Wvi Xi+1
Tvi Tli+1
Wvi-1
Tvi-1
hvi-1
Steam Evaporation
ith Effect Chest Section

Wvi-1 Wli
hci-1 Xi
Tli

Fig. 2. Block diagram with terms used for the ith effect.

to 3rd and so on up to the first effect, while the steam input is given in the first effect as shown in the Fig. 1. The material and
energy flow for ith effect is given in the Fig. 2.
Model equations are developed for ith effect using material and energy balance equations. The equations stating the phys-
ical properties of the black liquor are given in Table 1 defined by Gullichsen and Fogelholm [29]. It is assumed that the vapor
generated by the process of concentration of black liquor is saturated. It is also assumed that the energy and mass accumu-
lation in the vapor lump is very small as compared to the enthalpy of the steam and can be neglected.
Material balance for liquor in the ith effect for i = 1, 2 and 3:
d
Mli ðtÞ ¼ Wliþ1  Wli  Wvi : ð1Þ
dt
Since in the mixed feed sequence the feed is given to fifth effect and then thick liquor move from 5th to 6th and from 6th
to 4th effect thus for i = 4, 5 and 6 the equation is slightly different from the backward feed sequence and are given by

Table 1
Physico-thermal properties of black liquor, saturated steam and condensate.

S. Properties Equations Function parameters

no.
1. Boiling point rise, °C BPR = (6.173X  7.48X1.5 + 32.747X2) {1 + 0.006(Tv  3.7316)} Solid concentration, (X); steam
temperature, (Tv) °C
3 2
2. Black liquor density, kg/m Pl = (997 + 649X) {1.008 – 0.237 (Tl/1000) – 1.94(Tl/1000) } Black liquor temp. (Tl) in °C; solid
concentration, (X)
3. Specific heat capacity, kJ/ Cp = 4.216(1  X) + {1.675 + (3.31 Tl)/1000}X + (4.87  20 Tl/ Black liquor temp. (Tl) in °C, solid
kg K 1000) (1  X)X3 concentration, (X)
4. Enthalpy of water, kJ/kg hl = aT + b, where a = 4.1832 and b = 0.127011 Temp. of water, (T) in °C
5. Enthalpy of saturated hv = c Tv + d, where c = 1.75228 and d = 2503.35 Steam temperature, (Tv) °C
steam, kJ/kg
6. Latent heat of vaporization, k = 2519.5  2.653Tv Steam temperature, (Tv) °C
kJ/kg
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 387

d
For i ¼ 4 the material balance equation is Ml4 ðtÞ ¼ Wl6  Wl4  Wv4 ; ð1aÞ
dt

d
Similarly for i ¼ 5 the material balance equation is Ml5 ðtÞ ¼ F  Wl5  Wv5 ; ð1bÞ
dt

d
In this way for i ¼ 6 the material balance equation is Ml6 ðtÞ ¼ Wl5  Wl6  Wv6 : ð1cÞ
dt
Energy balance for liquor in the ith effect:
d
ðMli ðtÞhli ðtÞÞ ¼ Wliþ1 hliþ1  Wli hli  Wvi hvi þ Wvi1 hvi1  W v i1 hci1 ; ð2Þ
dt
where Wvi1 ¼ hvi1Qhci1 and also Q ¼ Ui Ai ðTviþ1  T v i  BPRi Þ.
Material balance for solids in ith effect:
d
ðMli ðtÞXi ðtÞÞ ¼ Wliþ1 Xiþ1  Wli Xi : ð3Þ
dt
The changes shown in material balance for i = 4, 5 and 6 are similarly effective for energy and solid balance and in other
equations which are obtained by using material balances given by (1a), (1b) and (1c).

2.1. Formulation of the system equations

The modeling technique proposed by Narmine and Marwan [25] has been further modified and extended in the present
work to obtain the mathematical modeling of the MEE system. The vapor and liquor in ith effect are in equilibrium and the
relation for the liquor and vapor temperature defined in terms of BPR is as follows:
Tli ¼ Tvi þ BPRi ð4Þ
and the BPR is defined in terms of temperature and solid concentration, presented in Table 1.
Differentiating Eq. (4) with respect to time we get
      
d d o o o
Tli ðtÞ ¼ Tvi ðtÞ 1 þ BPRi þ BPRi Xi ðtÞ : ð5Þ
dt dt oTv oX ot
Mli can be written as:
Mli ¼ ALi Pli : ð6Þ
The Pli, the density of the liquor is defined in terms of temperature and solid concentration and also presented in Table 1.
Differentiating Eq. (6) with respect to time we get
   
d d d
Mli ðtÞ ¼ ALi ðtÞ Pli þ APli Li ðtÞ :
dt dt dt
Since Pli is a function of temperature Tl and concentration X, this equation is reduces into Eq. (7) by using the value of
d
dt
Tli ðtÞ
from Eq. (5) with rearranging the terms.
     
d d o o d
Mli ðtÞ ¼ APli Li ðtÞ þ ALi ðtÞ Pli 1þ BPRi Tvi ðtÞ
dt dt oTl oTv dt
     
o o o d
þ ALi ðtÞ Pli BPRi þ Pli Xi ðtÞ : ð7Þ
oTl oX oX dt

Comparing the resultant differential equation (7) with Eq. (1) we get
     
d d d
C1 ¼ C2 Li ðtÞ þ C3 Tvi ðtÞ þ C4 Xi ðtÞ ; ð8Þ
dt dt dt
where
C1 ¼ Wliþ1  Wli  Wvi ;

C2 ¼ APli ;
   
o o
C3 ¼ ALi ðtÞ Pli 1þ BPRi ;
oTl oTv
388 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

Table 2
Range of operational parameters.

S. no. Operational parameter Parameter’s range Target value

1 Liquor feed flow rate, kg/s 18.00–25.00 23.98
2 Liquor feed temperature, °C 70.00–90.00 80.00
3 Liquor feed concentration, kg solids/kg total 0.10–0.52 0.10
4 Steam temperature, °C 135–140 139
5 Last body saturation, °C 48–52 49
6 Liquor product concentration, kg solids/kg total 0.48–0.52 0.50
7 Heat transfer coefficients (W/m2 K) 1160–1400 1160, 1220,1280, 1335, 1365, 1400

    
o o o
C4 ¼ ALi ðtÞ Pli BPRi þ Pli :
oTl oX oX
d d
Differentiating Mli(t)hli(t) with respect to time and using the value of dt
Tli ðtÞ from Eq. (5) and the value of dt
Mli ðtÞ from
Eq. (7) we get
       
d d d o
Mli ðtÞ hli þ Mli ðtÞ hli ¼ APli hli Li ðtÞ þ ALi ðtÞ 1 þ BPRi
dt dt dt oTv
        
o o d d
Pli hli þ Pli hli Tvi ðtÞ þ ALi ðtÞ XiðtÞ
oTl oTl dt dt
           
o o o o o o
Pli hli BPRi þ Pli hli þ hli Pli BPRi þ Pli hli :
oTl oX oX oTl oX oX
Comparing the resultant differential equation with Eq. (2) we get
     
d d d
C5 ¼ C6 Li ðtÞ þ C7 Tvi ðtÞ þ C8 Xi ðtÞ ; ð9Þ
dt dt dt
where
C5 ¼ Wliþ1 hliþ1  Wli hli  Wvi hvi þ Wvi1 hvi1  W v i1 hci1 ;

C6 ¼ APli hli ;
    
o o o
C7 ¼ ALi ðtÞð1 þ BPRi Þ Pli hli þ hli Pli ;
oTv oTl oTl
         
o o o o o o
C8 ¼ ALi ðtÞPli hli BPEi þ hli þ ALi ðtÞhli Pli BPRi þ Pli :
oTl oX oX oTl oX oX
d
Differentiating Mli(t)Xi(t) with respect to time and using the value of dt Mi ðtÞ from Eq. (7) and rearranging the equation and
representing it in the form of coefficients

Table 3
Steady state solution of sextuple effect evaporator.

Items Effects
I II III IV V VI
Input liquor concentration (kg/kg) 0.2883 0.2067 0.1639 0.1401 0.1 0.1157
Output liquor concentration (kg/kg) 0.5 0.2883 0.2067 0.1639 0.1157 0.1401
Input liquor flow (kg/s) 8.3173 11.6031 14.627 17.1105 23.98 20.73
Output liquor flow (kg/s) 4.796 8.3173 11.6031 14.627 20.73 17.1105
Input liquor temperature (°C) 99.4662 83.4384 71.0077 50.419 80 61.3928
Output liquor temperature (°C) 125.2157 99.4662 83.4384 71.0077 61.3928 50.419
Input steam temperature (°C) 139 111.0319 94.3051 80.5579 69.0649 60.2439
Output steam temperature (°C) 111.0319 94.3051 80.5579 69.0649 60.2439 49
Input steam flow (kg/s) 3.8028 3.5213 3.2858 3.0239 2.4835 3.25
Output steam flow (kg/s) 3.5213 3.2858 3.0239 2.4835 3.25 3.6195
Boiling point rise (°C) 14.1838 5.1611 2.8805 1.9428 1.1489 1.419
Specific heat (kJ/kg K) 3.3006 3.6275 3.7704 3.8507 3.9506 3.8924
Heat transfer area (m2) 591.9614
Stream consumption (kg/s) 3.8028
Total evaporation (kg/s) 19.184
Steam economy 5.0447
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 389

th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% decrease in feed flow rate
56

54

T ( C)
o
52

50

48
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% increase in feed flow rate
50

48
T ( C)
o

46

44

42
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% decrease in feed flow rate
0.145
0.144
X (kg/kg)

0.143
0.142
0.141
0.140
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
-4
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% increase in feed flow rate
0.141
0.140
X (kg/kg)

0.139
0.138
0.137
0.136
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 3. Response of 6th effect by disturbing ±10% in the feed flow rate.

     
d d d
C9 ¼ C10 Li ðtÞ þ C11 Tvi ðtÞ þ C12 Xi ðtÞ ; ð10Þ
dt dt dt

where

C9 ¼ Wliþ1 Xiþ1  Wli Xi ;

C10 ¼ APli Xi ;
   
o o
C11 ¼ ALi Xi Pli 1þ BPRi ;
oTl oTv
     
o o o
C12 ¼ ALi Pli þ Xi Pli BPRi þ Pli :
oTl oX oX
390 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% decrease in feed flow rate
115

114

T ( C)
o
113

112

111
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% increase in feed flow rate
112
111
T ( C)

110
o

109
108
107
0 0.5 1.51 2 2.5 3
-3
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% decrease in feed flow rate
0.56

0.54
X (kg/kg)

0.52

0.50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-4
tx10 (s)

st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% increase in feed flow rate
0.5

0.49
X (kg/kg)

0.48

0.47

0.46
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 4. Response of first effect by disturbing ±10% in the feed flow rate.

3. Simulation

3.1. Steady state simulation

To study the dynamic response of any chemical process initial values of the process variables are needed, which can be
obtained using steady state solution. For obtaining the steady state solution of the system, the accumulation terms in the
Eqs. (8)–(10) equal to zero i.e. C1 = 0, C5 = 0 and C9 = 0. Further substituting the values of physical properties like enthalpy,
density, specific heat and boiling point rise from Table 1 and heat transfer rate from Eq. (2), mathematical model of 12 non-
linear equations in 12 unknown variables is obtained. The model is similar to the model described by Ray and Sharma [10].
Operational data for simulation is taken from literature. For falling film evaporator the range of overall heat transfer coef-
ficient (OHTC) is given by various researchers. Gupta [30] has suggested the value of OHTC as 580–2900 W/m2 K. Algehed
and Berntsson [31] suggested the values of OHTC nearly 1510 W/m2 K. For evaporation of black liquor Gullichsen and Fogel-
holm [29] suggested the range of OHTC for all six effects of a sextuple evaporator system between 500 and 2000 W/m2 K. The
values of OHTC depend on the concentration rise in the MEE system. After discussion with few Indian Paper Mills, values of
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 391

th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% decrease in feed concentration
49.15

T ( C)
49.1

o
49.05

49
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% increase in feed concentration
49.15
T ( C)

49.1
o

49.05

49
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)

th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% decrease in feed concentration
0.145

0.14
X (kg/kg)

0.135

0.13

0.125
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-4
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% increase in feed concentration
0.16

0.155
X (kg/kg)

0.15

0.145

0.140
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 5. Response of 6th effect by disturbing ±10% in the feed concentration.

OHTC are taken in the range 1160–1400 W/m2 K for the concentration rise from 10% to 50%. The values of the operating
parameters are presented in Table 2. The steady state solution of the system of nonlinear equations is obtained by ‘fsolve’
solver in MATLAB source code and is presented in Table 3. The input values, required steam are shown in bold face and heat
transfer area is calculated and also presented in Table 3. Steam economy defined as the ratio of total evaporation with live
steam consumption is shown in the Table 3. The steam economy for the present system is calculated as 5.0447.

3.2. Dynamic simulation

For the dynamic simulation first order nonlinear differential Eqs. (8)–(10) are solved simultaneously in the same order for
all the six effects of the mixed feed sextuple effect evaporator system. In the mixed feed sequence the feed is given to 5th and
thick liquor coming out from 5th to 6th and from 6th to 4th and so onto the first effect. This procedure is repeated for each
time steps. Steady-state solution of the model provides initial values of the system variables at time, t = 0. Solution of such
types of simultaneous nonlinear ordinary differential equations is extremely intricate in nature even by using sophisticated
numerical techniques. Stefanov and Hoo [27] solved the system of equations for single plate lamella of a falling film evap-
orator by Orthogonal Collocation on finite elements after converting the PDEs into dimensionless form. Stefanov and Hoo
[28] discretized the system of Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) of a MEE system by using Orthogonal Collocation and
392 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% decrease in feed concentration
111.3

111.2

T ( C)
o
111.1

111
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% increase in feed concentration
111.3

111.2
T ( C)
o

111.1

111
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)

st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% decrease in feed concentration
0.5
X (kg/kg)

0.48

0.46

0.44
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-4
tx10 (s)

st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% increase in feed concentration
0.56

0.54
X (kg/kg)

0.52

0.50
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 6. Response of first effect by disturbing ±10% in the feed concentration.

then used LSODI (Livermore solver for ordinary differential equations, implicit system) solver, included in ODEPACK given by
Algehed and Berntsson [32] to solve the discretized system of PDEs. The execution time is approximately 14 h on a 1.2 GHz
Athlon node, which is equivalent to 1 h of real time for dynamic simulation of plate type falling film MEE system for using
backward feed. These techniques are complex and more time consuming. In the present investigation an attempt has been
made for steady state as well as dynamic simulation for tubular type falling film MEE system for mixed feed by using ‘fsolve’
and ‘ode45’ solver in MATLAB source code respectively. Simulations results obtained using MATLAB source code shows a
comparable performance with FASTER method in terms of CPU time.

4. Model application

The dynamic response on system variables of MEE is studied by creating four types of disturbances namely (i) in feed flow
rate, (ii) in feed concentration, (iii) in live steam temperature and (iv) in feed temperature as step input function. System
variables selected were (i) temperature of each effect and (ii) output concentration of each effect. The disturbance is taken
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 393

th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% decrease in steam temperature
50

48

T ( C)
o
46

44

42
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% increase in steam temperature
56

54
T ( C)
o

52

50

48
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% decrease in steam temperature
0.1402
X (kg/kg)

0.1401

0.14

0.1399
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-4
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% increase in steam temperature
0.1406
X (kg/kg)

0.1404

0.1402

0.14
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 7. Response of sixth effect by disturbing ±10% in the steam temperature.

as a step input of ±10%. Responses to the disturbance for the last (6th) and first (first) effects are presented from Figs. 3–10.
These graphs are plotted with respect to time to show how the variables approach to the new steady state conditions.

5. Results and discussion

In the mixed feed MEE system such as (6 ? 5 ? 4 ? 3 ? 2 ? 1); the input liquor enters the evaporator system from the
5th effect and then thick liquor from 5th effect to 6th and from 6th to 4th and up to the first effect. Dynamic responses due
±10% step input in last and first effect in each case of mixed feed are given as follows.

5.1. Effect of varying feed flow rate

In the present case of mixed feed input thick liquor enters the evaporator system from the 5th effect. Thus for the variation
in the feed flow rate the disturbance is applied in the 5th effect. The effect of ±10% step input in feed flow rate on the tem-
perature and concentration of last effect (connected with condenser, i.e., 6th) and first effect (connected with live steam,
i.e., first) are shown by Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. The temperature and concentration of both the effects show an increase
or decrease with decrease or increase in the feed flow rate. It is obvious as fresh steam supply rate is constant and water
to be evaporates and decreases per unit time. Also the steady state in 6th effect is achieved at a faster rate than the first effect.
394 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

Variation in the Temperature of 1st effect with 10% decrease in steam temperature

110

T ( C)
105

o
100

95
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
-3
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% increase in steam temperature
125

120
T ( C)
o

115

110
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)

st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% decrease in steam temperature
0.502

0.5
X (kg/kg)

0.498

0.496
0.495
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-4
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% increase in steam temperature
0.5075
0.506
0.504
X (kg/kg)

0.502
0.5
0.498
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 8. Response of first effect by disturbing ±10% in the steam temperature.

5.2. Effect of varying feed concentration

For the dynamic response of the feed concentration the disturbance is applied in the 5th effect. The effect of ±10% step
input in feed concentration on the temperature and concentration of last (6th) and first effect (first) are shown in Figs. 5
and 6, respectively. The dynamic behavior of effect’s temperature with respect to disturbances in feed concentration shows
slight but insignificant change in temperature. However the change, it observed is unidirectional i.e. the temperature in-
creases irrespective of increase or decrease in feed concentration. The changes in product concentration of both the effect
show increase or decrease according as the feed concentration is increase or decrease. This may be due to the fact that
DT across the evaporator system remains constant and vapor-liquid equilibrium of each effect remains almost unchanged
for the optimum performance.

5.3. Effect of varying steam temperature

In MEE system with mixed feed, live steam enters in the first effect. Thus for the variation in the steam temperature the
disturbance is applied in the first effect. The effect of ±10% step input in steam temperature on the temperature and concen-
tration of last and first effect are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. The 10% change in steam temperature results in
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 395

th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% decrease in feed temperature
49.2

49

T ( C)
o
48.8

48.6

48.4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
th
Variation in the Temperature of 6 effect with 10% increase in feed temperature
49.8

49.6
T ( C)
o

49.4

49.2

49
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)

Variation in the Product Concentration of 6th effect with 10% decrease in feed temperature
0.1402
X (kg/kg)

0.14015

0.1401
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
-4
tx10 (s)

th
Variation in the Product Concentration of 6 effect with 10% increase in feed temperature
0.1402
X (kg/kg)

0.14015

0.1401
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 9. Response of sixth effect by disturbing ±10% in the feed temperature.

increase or decrease in the temperature of both the effects before obtaining the steady state for 10% increase or decrease
respectively. 10% disturbance in steam temperature does not result in any noticeable change in the product concentration
of both the effects. However with scale down Y-axis value (up to four decimal point as shown in the plots) it was observed
that product concentration increase and then decrease or decrease and then increase for 10% increase or decrease in the
steam temperature respectively.

5.4. Effect of varying feed temperature

Since feed liquor enters in the 5th effect for the mixed feed, thus the dynamic response of the feed temperature the dis-
turbance is applied in the 5th effect. The effect of ±10% step change in feed temperature on the temperature and concentration
of last and first effect are shown by the Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. It is evident from the figures that 10% disturbance in feed
temperature does not bring noticeable change in the temperature and product concentration each effect. However with scale
down Y-axis (as shown in the plots), it is observed that temperature of the both the effect increases and decreases to obtain the
steady state with an increase and decrease in feed temperature and the product concentration of each effect first decreases
and then increases to obtain the steady state with a very small fluctuations about the steady state up to four to five decimal
396 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397

st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% decrease in feed temperature
111.1

T ( C)
111

o
110.9

110.8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Temperature of 1 effect with 10% increase in feed temperature
111.8

111.6
T ( C)
o

111.4

111.2

111
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-3
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% decrease in feed temperature
0.5001
X (kg/kg)

0.5

0.4999

0.4998
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-4
tx10 (s)
st
Variation in the Product Concentration of 1 effect with 10% increase in feed temperature
0.5002
X (kg/kg)

0.5001

0.5

0.4999
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-4
tx10 (s)

Fig. 10. Response of first effect by disturbing ±10% in the feed temperature.

places in the value of concentrations of both the effect and conversely for 10% increase in feed temperature, which is negligible
in engineering problems.

6. Conclusions

For the steady state and dynamic simulation the ‘fsolve’ and ‘ODE45’ solvers in MATLAB source code are used successfully.
Simulations results obtained using MATLAB source code show a comparable performance with faster method in terms of CPU
time and conclude that with the use of MATLAB it is possible to have better control of such complex system. Further the
dynamic behavior of each effect’s temperature and product concentration was studied by disturbing the liquor flow rate,
feed concentration, steam and feed temperatures by ±10%. The transient study shows that the steady state is reached more
quickly for temperature in comparison of the solid concentration and all of the responses converge in a smooth fashion.

Acknowledgment

Mr. Deepak Kumar is thankful to Ministry of Human Resource Development; New Delhi, India for providing the Senior
Research Fellowship for this work.
 D. Kumar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 37 (2013) 384–397 397

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