So I am trying to complete this unfinished build that was left in Eugene and I was wondering how exactly this Horizontal FFE works. Assume it starts by filling the two 6x48 columns then sent to the dual 8x48 for winterization (stalled for a couple hours) then It goes thru CRC and feeds into the top spool which is just two jacketed 3x24 but has a Y at top of input. So the output from the CRC (if used) or 8x48s would feed the top? The other end of the Y would connect to what? Input of molsieve? Usually on a FFE the product would come out bottom of the evaporator, and the heated gas would flow into the condenser. So the first row is 3x24 jacketed spools, the same hose jacket hose connects to the middle row which is 2 3x24 tube in shell heat exchangers, and then into the third row (which is using different connections assuming this is the condenser? Looks like a custom job or maybe someone on here has run this or knows whats up…. I’d like to get it up and running so we can sell it. Neat unit has a Diamond miner built into it. Optional sleeved column for pre chilling, really nice rack….
Looks like a custom horizontal FFE setup, not a typical wiped film, so flow path depends on how they built it.
Your assumption sounds mostly right. Material probably runs 6x48 → dual 8x48 for winterization, then CRC if used, then into that top Y feeding the evap section.
That Y is likely not splitting product. One side is probably feed, the other could be tied into a mol sieve loop or just a bypass.
The 3x24 jackets look like your evap section. Vapor would move downstream into the tube-in-shell units which look like your condenser stages.
If the same jacket loop runs across rows, they are probably using staged temps instead of fully separate zones.
Main things to check:
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where vacuum is pulling from
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where solvent is actually collecting
That second leg of the Y might be sieve or just unused.
Feels like a partially finished recovery + FFE hybrid. Should be workable once you trace the flow.
Cool unit though.
This looks like a nice passion project. If you love what you’re doing and are happy with a few bucks someday, keep going.
Keep your profit projections really reasonable.
You and me both. Ain’t nowhere to fall…
How do you get the required thin film on the evaporator if the evaporator is horizontal?
The only way to get full coverage on the evaporator surface is to completely flood it. Which would seem to loose you most of the advantage of a “falling film”.
Interesting puzzle.
After looking at the pics for a while, the only thing that really makes sense to me is that the horizontal sections are for vapor condensing only, not evaporating. A horizontal condenser is easy to picture, but a horizontal evaporator sounds a lot harder to make work.
Like @cyclopath said, without an obvious sprayer, distributor, or wiper showing where a thin film would actually be generated, I have to assume that is happening somewhere else and only vapor is being fed to this section.
@batches Is there anything else on the system with a sprayer or wiper? Are there any vertical tube-in-shell exchangers elsewhere on the system?
Is it possible that they were trying to heat and then cool to precipitate THCA falling out of solution? I mean the end of the system is the diamond miner… but why horizontal.
By warming the solution (typically to around 80-100°F /~27-38°C under controlled pressure to boost solubility and achieve supersaturation), then cooling it (often to - 20°C or much colder, like - 40°C to - 75°C depending on the solvent and setup), the THCA becomes less soluble and crystallizes out of solution.
Previously I would have said because designer was unclear on the concept…but I had not really looked at it because “horizontal FFE” is simply not a thing
If we’ve removed “FFE” from the (current?) designation, there may be other interpretations.
Edit: after actually looking at the problem I’d agree that most of what we are looking at on the side facing us is condenser.
Will you do me a favor and pull the caps on the insulated 6” jacketed columns (vertical). My guess is those are both tube and shells. Which would make this an FFE.
Welcome to the future @Raquel_Gonzalez!
ROTOTHERM® Is made and marketed Artisan Industries Inc., It has Horizontal orientation with a high-speed rotor that uses centrifugal force to create and maintain a turbulent thin film against the heated wall. I think they have specific application for cannabis industry…but you pay for it. These objects are not Rototherms. See below:
But until we can see cap off to investigate what is inside everything is a guess.
Is it possible that it is a volume reduction systems utilizing membranes technology and the pumps are missing. I think @MagisterChem can comment?
I agree man. This only kind of makes sense running it as the condensing side. Which looking at how the jackets are hooked up, two at 5C and then an insulated one as a pre-chiller. I don’t see a vapor oil separator anywhere and that makes no sense positioned horizontally. FFE’s are great latent heat transfer but very bad at sensible heat transfer due to residence time and a few other factors.
I agree with @cyclopath that whoever designed this did not have a good fundamental understanding of what he was trying to achieve with the evaporator. Always cool to see people doing things different, regardless of what I think lol.