A compressor-driven thermal separation process using diffusion gap distillation and wicking, thermally conductive heat transfer surfaces

A thermal distillation apparatus for separating a volatile solvent from a solution composed of the solvent and one or more non-volatile components, the apparatus comprising:

• one or more vertical, planar evaporation surfaces on which the solution flows as thin films, the planar evaporation surfaces being the external surfaces of a first heat exchanger within which flows a first fluid that supplies heat to convert at least some of the volatile solvent to a vapor;
• one or more vertical, planar condensation surfaces spaced apart and parallel to a corresponding one of the one or more vertical, planar evaporation surfaces, the planar condensation surfaces being the external surfaces of a second heat exchanger within which flows the first fluid or a second fluid that absorbs the thermal energy that is released as vapors of the solvent condensed on the condensation surfaces;
• air at ambient pressure filling the gap between the condensation surfaces and the evaporation surfaces;
• means for supplying a flow of the solution from a solution feed source to the one or more evaporation surfaces;
• means for collecting the condensed vapors that flow off the condensation surfaces;
• and
• means for collecting the unevaporated portion of the solution that flows off the evaporation surfaces.