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Plate Evaporators

Plate Evaporators for Gentle, Efficient Product Concentration

APV® and Anhydro® plate evaporators provide flexible solutions for concentrating heat-sensitive liquid products while helping preserve flavor, color, nutrients and other important product characteristics. With short residence times, low-temperature operation and configurations ranging from pilot testing to commercial production, these evaporators support product development, batch processing and high-capacity manufacturing.

Plate evaporators transfer heat through a series of compact plates while the liquid product flows across the plate surface. The large heat-transfer area and thin product film promote efficient water removal with limited thermal exposure. This makes plate evaporation particularly valuable for dairy ingredients, fruit concentrates, natural extracts, coffee, broths and other products that can be affected by prolonged heating.

Why Choose a Plate Evaporator?

Plate evaporators help processors increase solids concentration, reduce product volume and prepare liquids for drying or further processing. Depending on the selected system, they can also support small production runs, product trials and large-scale continuous processing.

Key advantages include:

  • Short product residence times
  • Gentle treatment of heat-sensitive products
  • Efficient heat transfer at low temperature differences
  • Compact construction with limited building-height requirements
  • Flexible capacity and configuration options
  • Single-pass or multiple-effect operation
  • Mechanical vapor recompression options for greater energy efficiency
  • Scalable solutions for product testing and commercial production

APV Falling Film Plate Evaporators

APV Falling Film Plate Evaporators are designed for premium products requiring especially short residence times. A patented distribution system spreads the liquid evenly across the plate surface, supporting low wetting rates and efficient single-pass operation.

Three available plate sizes provide water-removal capacities ranging from 2,000 to 60,000 lb/hr—or approximately 907 to 27,216 kg/h. Multiple-effect and mechanical vapor recompression configurations can be used because the system requires only a low temperature difference.

APV Rising/Falling Film Plate Evaporators

APV Rising/Falling Film Plate Evaporators are versatile, multi-duty systems for small-to-medium production runs of temperature-sensitive products.

The standard plate configuration provides water-removal capacities from 1,000 to 35,000 lb/hr—or approximately 454 to 15,876 kg/h. A smaller junior plate option can remove as little as 100 lb/hr, making it suitable for pilot trials and lower-capacity production. Both plate sizes can be arranged in multiple-effect systems to improve thermal efficiency.

Anhydro Pilot Plate Evaporators

Anhydro Pilot Plate Evaporators help manufacturers evaluate a product’s evaporation behavior before purchasing or scaling up a full production plant.

These pilot systems concentrate small batches of extracts and other liquids based on water or ethanol solvents. Adjustable vacuum levels allow the evaporation temperature to follow the product-specific boiling curve, helping protect temperature-sensitive extracts during testing.

The pilot plant enables processors to evaluate:

  • Final product quality
  • Evaporation performance
  • Temperature sensitivity
  • Required vacuum conditions
  • Concentration limits
  • Process parameters for commercial-scale equipment

The unit includes a plate evaporator, downstream centrifugal separator, plate condenser and vacuum pump. Its approximate water-evaporation capacity is 100 liters per hour, and concentrated product viscosity can reach approximately 500 cP.

Pilot units may also be available for rental, allowing extended process evaluation before committing to commercial-scale equipment.

Industries

Chemical Chemical

Build efficient chemical processing systems with mixing and fluid handling expertise.

 Dairy Dairy

Optimize dairy processing for quality, efficiency, safety, and product consistency.

 Food & Beverage Food & Beverage

Meet modern food processing demands with precise, efficient production solutions.

 Pharmaceutical Pharmaceutical

Support sterile pharmaceutical production with mixing and heat transfer expertise.

Applications

Baby Food

Processing technologies for safe, consistent, high-quality baby food production.

 Beer, Cider, Wine & Spirits

Processing solutions for brewing, winemaking, cider, and spirits production.

 Coffee & Tea

Advanced processing technologies for high-quality coffee and tea production.

 Condiments, Sauces & Soups

Processing technologies for consistent, high-quality sauces, soups, and condiments.

 Dairy Ingredients

Dairy ingredient processing systems for efficient production, quality, and scalability.

 Flavors & Fragrances

Advanced technologies for efficient flavor and fragrance production.

 Fruit Juice

Advanced technologies for efficient, safe, and consistent fruit juice production.

 Meat & Animal-Based Proteins

Processing systems for meat and proteins, ensuring safety, efficiency, and quality control.

 Milk & Cream

Milk and cream processing solutions ensuring quality, safety, and efficient operations.

 Nutraceuticals

Advanced technologies for efficient nutraceutical and supplement production.

 Plant-Based Food & Beverages

Advanced technologies for efficient plant-based food and beverage production.

 Soft Drinks

Advanced technologies for efficient, consistent soft drink production.

 Solvents & Solutions

Advanced technologies for efficient solvent and specialty chemical processing.

 Specialty Chemicals

Advanced technologies for efficient and reliable specialty chemical production.

Products

Rising/Falling Film Plate Evaporators Rising/Falling Film Plate Evaporators

Flexible evaporation for heat-sensitive products with efficient thermal performance.

 Falling Film Plate Evaporators Falling Film Plate Evaporators

Premium evaporation performance with short residence times and high efficiency.

 Pilot Plate Evaporators Pilot Plate Evaporators

Improve concentration, cooling and product quality with Pilot Plate Evaporators.

Knowledge Center

Preserving Natural Food Colors with Evaporators Preserving Natural Food Colors with Evaporators

Protect color, quality, and clean-label appeal with gentle evaporation technology.

 When to Replace Plate Evaporator Gaskets When to Replace Plate Evaporator Gaskets

Identify gasket wear early to prevent downtime, leaks, and product loss.

 Anhydro Celebrates 75 Years of Innovation Anhydro Celebrates 75 Years of Innovation

Celebrating 75 years of spray drying innovation for food, dairy, and pharma.

Frequently Asked Questions

A plate evaporator concentrates liquid products by removing water or another solvent through controlled heating and evaporation. The product flows across heat-transfer plates in a thin film, which supports efficient heat transfer and short residence times.

APV and Anhydro plate evaporators can be used for milk, whey protein, fruit juices, purees, coffee extracts, broths, sugars, syrups, gelatin, pectin, egg products, natural extracts and other heat-sensitive liquids. Final equipment selection depends on the product’s viscosity, solids content, temperature sensitivity and required capacity.

Falling film plate evaporators distribute product downward across the plate surface and are suited for continuous processing of heat-sensitive products at short residence times. Rising/falling film systems combine upward and downward product flow, making them flexible for pilot-scale, batch and small-to-medium production requirements.

An Anhydro pilot plate evaporator is used to test how a product behaves during concentration before moving to full-scale production. It can help establish operating temperatures, vacuum levels, concentration limits and product-quality targets for water-based or compatible solvent-based liquids.

Plate evaporators provide a large heat-transfer area, efficient operation at low temperature differences and short product residence times. These characteristics help reduce unnecessary thermal exposure and may support better retention of flavor, color, nutrients and other product properties.