Methods and apparatus for distillation of shallow depth fluids

An apparatus, comprising:

• a housing defining a reservoir configured to receive a volume of a fluid, the volume of the fluid being in a substantially liquid state, at least a portion of which includes a dissolved impurity;
• a heat-transfer element disposed within an interior volume of the housing to define a condensing chamber and a boiling chamber, the heat-transfer element including a surface, at least a portion of which is disposed at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane, the housing defining an opening placing the condensing chamber in fluid communication with the boiling chamber, the heat-transfer element positioned such that the volume of the fluid flows from the reservoir and across the surface of heat-transfer element within the boiling chamber to boil a portion of the fluid when the portion of the fluid flows across the surface;
• a control means for controlling a flow rate of the volume of the fluid flowing across the surface of the heat-transfer element;
• and
• a compression component configured to compress at least a portion of the fluid boiled from the volume of the fluid to move the portion of fluid through the opening from the boiling chamber to the condensing chamber.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a housing having a side wall defining a reservoir configured to receive a volume of fluid in a liquid state, the volume of fluid including an impurity concentration, the side wall defining a first opening;
• a heat-transfer element disposed within an interior portion of the housing to define a condensing chamber and a boiling chamber, the heat-transfer element including a top surface, at least a portion of which is disposed at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane, the housing defining a second opening placing the condensing chamber in fluid communication with the boiling chamber, the heat-transfer element positioned such that the reservoir surrounds the second opening and the volume of fluid flows from the reservoir and on the portion of the top surface via the first opening;
• and
• a compression component coupled to the housing and configured to produce a pressure differential between the boiling portion and the condensing portion to move a portion of fluid boiled from the volume of fluid to a bottom surface of the heat-transfer element within the condensing portion via the second opening, the heat-transfer element configured such that the portion of the fluid within the condensing portion condenses at the bottom surface to transfer heat from the portion of fluid within the condensing portion to the volume of fluid within the boiling portion via the heat-transfer element.