Energy Consumption in a Concentrated Orange Juice Plant

The consumption of electricity and thermal energy for frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) and citrus pulp pellets (CPP) was determined in a plant. Thermal energy accounted for 90% of the total energy consumption in the plant and its consumption for CPP exceeded that for FCOJ. The kilocalories of thermal energy per kg of water evaporated (KKWE) in the evaporators increased as the feed rate of single strength juice was decreased. At the design evaporation capacity, the steam efficiency of two tubular evaporators and two plate evaporators was found to be 0.85N and 0.82N, respectively; N being the number of effects of the evaporator. Fouling of the waste heat evaporator was a major reason for the high energy consumption in the CPP unit.