The function of the Evaporator and Boiler is the same, i.e., to turn the liquid into a gaseous form. The evaporator works at the normal temperature, which is lower than the Boiler.
Both these systems are basically used in the Thermal Power Plant to generate electricity. Besides this, they are also used in the manufacturing industries.
Both these systems are part of the heat-exchanger.
Key Takeaways
- An evaporator is a device used to turn a liquid into a gas, for cooling.
- A boiler is a device used to heat water or other fluids to produce steam or hot water for heating or power generation.
- An evaporator is used in air conditioning and refrigeration systems, while a boiler is used in heating and power generation systems.
Evaporator vs Boiler
An evaporator is used to evaporate a liquid or remove water from a solution or an evaporator is used to concentrate a solution by removing water. A boiler is used to generate steam or heat water to produce steam. The steam produced is used for various applications, such as power generation.
An evaporator by name means that it is a device that is used to turn the liquid state into the gaseous state. It is basically a heat exchanger which is used to transfer one form of heat into another substance.
It is the major component of refrigeration systems.
The Boiler is the one in which the liquid is submerged, and it is heated to a high temperature, above 100 degrees Celsius, to convert the liquid into the gaseous/steam form.
The process of operation is fast because of the heat of the boiler.
Usually, the Industrial furnace is used, which can heat the boiler within a few minutes.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Evaporator | Boiler |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Temperature | Temperature is low | Temperature is very high |
| Working Time | The process is slow here | The process is faster here |
| Size | Can range from small to big | They are very big in size as compared to Evaporator |
| Surface Area | It covers the upper surface area of liquid | It covers the entire mass of the liquid |
| Application | Mainly used in Refrigeration systems like AC and Fridge | They are widely used in power plants to generate the electricity |
What is Evaporator?
An Evaporator is basically an important component of the refrigeration system. The function of this device is to convert the liquid water into a gaseous form.
Evaporator works on a temperature that is lower than the boiling point of Boilers, due to which the process and operation are much slower here.
They use the heat source to heat the material inside the evaporator.
They are covered into the coils when the electricity passes through it a produces the heat due to which the liquid material gets heat up.
The power or energy-producing by heating the coils is way much lower than that of the external heating source which is used in the Boilers.
Thus, it takes time to heat the liquid in order to reach its evaporate state.
When the evaporator works, it performs the operation on the surface of the liquid;
when the liquid is heated to the gaseous state, it starts to form the gas over the surface, the evaporator starts its work to transfer this heat to the other medium which is connected to it.
Evaporators are small, and sometimes they can be big also depending on the operation that is being performed. But mainly, they are small in size and can easily be installed in the location.
What is Boiler?
When it comes to producing electricity in the power plant, the Boiler is one of the main components of the process. The raw materials are heated inside the Boiler to move on to the next process.
The function of the boiler is to convert the liquid into the gaseous form, which is also called Steam.
This steam is thus passed to the channel to rotate the turbines connected to a generator which produces the electricity.
The working temperature of the Boiler is higher when compared with the Evaporator, as the liquid which is stored in the Boiler needs to be converted into Steam which occurs above 100 degrees Celcius.
Usually, this temperature is achieved with external fuel such as coal, diesel, or industrial furnace, which can produce a temperature above 500 degrees also.
The boiler performs its operation on the whole liquid in order to make it gaseous.
Boilers are very huge as they store millions of gallons of liquid into them, and the operation is performed on the whole liquid to achieve the gaseous state.
The operation which is performed here is faster and more rapid as compared to the Evaporator. Thus, the process is finished much faster here.
Main Differences Between Evaporator and Boiler
- The size of the Evaporators is small, while the size of the Boilers is much larger than that of it.
- The heat which is supplied to the Evaporator is through the electricity, i.e., through coils, whereas the heat which is supplied to the Boiler is through external sources like coal, diesel, or furnace.
- The operating temperatures of the Evaporator are lower than the boiling point of the liquid, while the temperature is higher in the Boiler to heat the liquid.
- Operations in Evaporator are very slow when compared with the Boiler, which has fast operations.
- Evaporators work by working over the surface of the liquid only, while the Boiler works on the overall liquid surface, which is stored in it.
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qKGLDKgav8UC&oi=fnd&pg=PA13&dq=Evaporator+vs+Boiler&ots=u_MriDbPeJ&sig=Ztj2j7RYVbXMbwpZohf7hXZgdyU
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0017931018336093
Last Updated : 15 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
