The primary change to the evaporation process was the previously-cold feed stream would now be warm. A Caloris engineer was requested on-site as the change was implemented, to keep an eye on the evaporators and identify any required adjustments. A three-day visit was scheduled for this purpose.

In addition to monitoring related to the increased feed temperature, our engineer discovered several maintenance and operational issues in need of attention. He noticed some inconsistencies in the evaporator automation, causing temperature control issues, and some operating procedures in need of standardization and consistent implementation among operators. Most notable was the observation that some operators had developed procedural “workarounds” to deal with downstream operational issues, that were resulting in increased fouling and product foam. Automation recommendations were made by the Caloris engineer to eliminate the need for the irregular procedures.

CIP issues were also identified, including residual product scale on the evaporator heat treatment surfaces, resulting in recommendations to optimize chemical effectiveness.