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US 8,216,431 B1Granted
Passive liquid distillation system
OwnerMark Edward Tellaminventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is described a water distillation system comprising a boiler assembly and a condenser assembly communicating by means of superheated steam through a passive magnetic valve opening directly under force of pressure. This allows the recovery of the latent heat of evaporation through a passive process. Additional features are described which complement the efficient transfer and recapture of heat energy, and the management of miscible fluid constituents. The distillation system described is useful for producing potable water and can be transportable or fixed in location and/or scaled for residential, neighborhood and municipal application. The distillation system may also be used for efficiently clarifying other fluids, such as for ‘de-watering’ ethanol.
Claims18
A liquid distillation system comprising:
- a boiler stage including a boiler assembly for containing a fixed amount of liquid;
- a condenser stage including a condenser assembly which includes a heat exchanger;
- a liquid management stage including a liquid management assembly having a passive magnetic valve which opens directly by force of pressure and which is initially in an open position, and a check valve, arranged to form a semi-closed system with the boiler stage and the condenser stage;
- wherein the passive magnetic valve optimizes operating pressure by throttling between upper and lower operating pressure limits,
- wherein a fixed amount of liquid is provided to the boiler stage and flows through the check valve until the liquid in the boiler stage reaches a predetermined liquid height/level, whereupon the passive magnetic valve is closed when the lower operating pressure limit is reached and the check valve closes,
- whereupon liquid in the boiler stage is heated under pressure until the applicable phase change pressure is reached,
- whereupon the passive magnetic valve opens directly by force of pressure, which allows the liquid heated under pressure to change phase to a superheated vapor and flow through the passive magnetic valve to the heat exchanger in the condenser stage, and
- as the superheated vapor exits the boiler stage the pressure and liquid height/level in the boiler stage decreases, and the check valve opens allowing liquid flow through the check valve until the liquid in the boiler stage reaches a predetermined liquid height/level, whereupon the passive magnetic valve is closed when the lower operating pressure limit is reached and the check valve closes,
- the superheated vapor entering the condenser stage condenses thereby releasing its latent heat of evaporation into the heat exchanger thereby evaporating liquid within the heat exchanger thereby creating a corresponding amount of steam on heat exchanger surfaces,
- wherein at the upper pressure limit the pressure from the superheated vapor is high enough to cause the passive magnetic valve to open by force of pressure,
- wherein the lower operating pressure limit is the lowest pressure at which the passive magnetic valve will remain open.
8 more elements
A method for liquid distillation,
- wherein the upper limit of operating pressure of a boiler stage containing a fixed volume of heated liquid, is controlled using a passive magnetic valve opening directly by force of pressure to increase the boiling temperature of that liquid above the boiling point temperature of the liquid at system operating pressure, creating a temperature difference between the vapor heated under pressure released from the boiler stage, and liquid with which the vapor communicates through the heat exchanger wherein the liquid is at boiling temperature of the liquid at system operating pressure.
An apparatus for separating parts of a source liquid by distillation, comprising:
- a boiler assembly for containing and heating a fixed amount of source liquid;
- wherein a source liquid is comprised of a target liquid and at least one waste liquid, and
- wherein the boiler assembly input is positionally lower than the boiler assembly heated zone, allowing for input source liquid to thermally stratify and/or to isolate sediment and/or to concentrate brine, and/or segregate other waste liquid;
- and
- wherein the boiler assembly heated zone is of fixed volume, and optimized to release a controlled volume of superheated vapor into a heat exchanger in a condenser assembly, and,
- wherein the boiler assembly heated zone's heated volume has a low thermal mass, so the source liquid quickly reaches the applicable superheated temperature and pressure, and
- wherein the boiler assembly heated zone output is positionally higher than the boiler assembly's heated zone, and
- a condenser assembly including a heat exchanger for condensing vapor and preheating source liquid;
- a liquid management assembly including a passive magnetic valve which is opened directly by force of pressure, connecting the output of the boiler assembly to a heat exchanger in the condenser assembly, and the liquid management assembly further including a check valve connecting the output of the condenser assembly to the input of the boiler assembly, thus the liquid management assembly is arranged to form a semi-closed loop with the boiler assembly and the condenser assembly;
- and
- an insulated container including the condenser assembly, the liquid management assembly, and the boiler assembly;
- wherein the insulated container contains baffles and/or liquid storage units comprising the condenser assembly supported in the insulated container which operate as baffles to direct the flow of superheated vapor in a counter-flow direction to the direction of liquid flow.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.