The present invention generally relates to distillation of fluid mixtures, and more specifically, to an apparatus for frictionally heating one or more fluids to produce one or more distilled fluids and to separate impurities from the one or more fluids.
Existing methods for separating one or more fluids and one or more impurities from fluid mixtures include various distillation systems. Distillation involves heating of fluid mixtures to produce vapor which is collected and condensed to produce a distilled fluid. Distillation systems such as, boiler-type distillers, thin-film distillers, and vacuum distillers require a large amount of heat for converting the fluid to vapor. These distillation systems require an external source of heat and are hence expensive for large scale productions. Further, these distillation systems result in production of a concentrated liquid discharge and the amount of distilled fluid obtained is also low.
Separation of one or more fluids and one or more impurities from fluid mixtures may also be performed using reverse osmosis. In reverse osmosis, a semi-permeable membrane is used to separate the one or more impurities from the one or more fluids by applying a pressure on the one or more fluids. However, these semi-permeable membranes may be susceptible to heat and sensitive to chemicals in the one or more fluids. Further, the one or more fluids may also need special pre-treatment prior to the separation process. Pre-treatment may be performed in order to alter pH of the one or more fluids or to remove dissolved chemicals in the one or more fluids. Alternatively, pre-treatment may be performed to remove larger solid impurities from the one or more fluids.
Further, salt crystallizers may be used to produce solids from concentrated liquid solutions. However, these salt crystallizers are complex, very large, and expensive to operate.
Therefore, there is a need for a compact and cost effective apparatus for distilling fluid mixtures and separating impurities from the one or more fluids.
The accompanying figures where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the invention.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.
Before describing in detail embodiments that are in accordance with the invention, it should be observed that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of method steps and apparatus components related to a fluid friction-based distillation and processing system. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
In this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
Generally speaking, pursuant to various embodiments, the invention provides an apparatus for distilling one or more fluids. The apparatus includes a housing for receiving the one or more fluids. The one or more fluids may include one or more impurities. The apparatus also includes one or more rotatable cylinders enclosed within the housing. The one or more rotatable cylinders include a plurality of friction elements on one or more of an inner wall and an outer wall. In response to rotation of the one or more rotatable cylinders, the plurality of friction elements frictionally interact with the one or more fluids to generate one or more vapors. The rotation of the one or more rotatable cylinders further enables separation of the one or more impurities from the one or more fluids. Thereafter, the one or more impurities are collected in an impurity collector associated with the housing. The one or more vapors generated due to the frictional interaction are received by one or more condensers which condense the one or more vapors to produce one or more distilled fluids.
Rotatable cylinder 106 includes a plurality of friction elements on one or more of an inner wall and an outer wall. In one embodiment, the plurality of friction elements include perforations such as, perforations 108 associated with rotatable cylinder 106. Alternatively, the plurality of friction elements may include, but are not limited to, corrugations, grooves, arcs, teeth, and ridges. Perforations 108 associated with rotatable cylinder 106 frictionally interact with the fluids in housing 102 on rotation of rotatable cylinder 106 to generate heat. A rotatable cylinder such as, rotatable cylinder 106 may rotate at high speed so that friction is caused to generate the heat. This heat causes the fluids to evaporate as one or more vapors.
To rotate rotatable cylinder 106, one or more motors such as, a motor 110 is used. Motor 110 may be used to rotate rotatable cylinder 106 in one of a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction. Alternatively, a plurality of electromagnets may be used for rotating rotatable cylinder 106. This is explained in conjunction with
In response to rotation of rotatable cylinder 106, a centrifugal force is generated which results in movement of the fluids into a lateral gap between rotatable cylinder 106 and housing 102. Thereafter, perforations 108 associated with rotatable cylinder 106 frictionally interact with the fluids to generate heat. Here, perforations 108 trap portions of the fluids during rotation of rotatable cylinder 106 and cause the portions of the fluids to frictionally interact with the remaining fluid in housing 102 to cause fluid friction. This friction causes an increase in temperature and eventually results in evaporation of the fluids as one or more vapors. Here, the fluids may have different boiling points and may form vapor at different temperatures. For example, crude oil may be separated into one or more fractions for specific uses such as transport, power generation and heating based on the different boiling points associated with the different fractions. Additionally, in response to the generation of the one or more vapors, one or more dissolved solid impurities in the fluids precipitate as crystals.
Further, the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of rotatable cylinder 106 separates suspended solid impurities from the fluids. The one or more of the one or more dissolved solid impurities and the one or more suspended solid impurities have a density higher than that of the fluids and are driven to impurity collector 112 due to the generated centrifugal force. To enable flow of these one or more impurities to impurity collector 112, one or more openings (not shown in
The vapor generated as a result of evaporation of the fluids is collected by one or more condensers such as a condenser 114. Condenser 114 includes a first portion 114a and a second portion 114b (illustrated in
Condenser 114 may further include one or more compression units such as compression unit 118 for compressing the one or more vapors. Compression unit 118 compresses the one or more vapors to increase condensation temperature of the one or more vapors. Here, compression unit 118 increases the pressure associated with the one or more vapors thereby increasing the temperature of the one or more vapors. The increased temperature allows the one or more vapors to exchange heat with the fluids at a higher temperature. For example, if the fluids include water, compression unit 118 increases the condensation temperature of the water to greater than 100° C., for example 110° C. This high temperature allows the water to exchange its latent heat with the fluids at temperature 110° C. Further, compression unit 118 facilitates reduction in boiling point of the fluids by exerting a vacuum on the fluids. Accordingly, compression unit 118 improves the exchange of heat between the vapor and the fluids.
Rotatable cylinder 306 includes a plurality of friction elements on one or more of an inner wall and an outer wall. The plurality of friction elements may include a plurality of perforations such as, perforations 308 associated with rotatable cylinder 306. The friction elements may further include, but are not limited to, corrugations, grooves, arcs, teeth, and ridges. Perforations 308 associated with rotatable cylinder 306 frictionally interact with the fluids in housing 302 on rotation of rotatable cylinder 306 to generate heat. This heat causes the fluids to evaporate as one or more vapors. Here, the fluids may form vapor at different temperatures corresponding to the boiling temperatures associated with the fluids.
To rotate rotatable cylinder 306, a plurality of electromagnets may be used. In an embodiment, the plurality of electromagnets may include a plurality of superconducting magnets. In this case, the plurality of superconducting magnets suspends the one or more rotatable cylinders at a fixed distance from each other and also from the housing. This facilitates contactless rotation of the one or more rotatable cylinders. The plurality of electromagnets may be placed on the one or more rotatable cylinders and on the housing. Here, the plurality of electromagnets enables the one or more rotatable cylinders to rotate in one of a clockwise direction and a counter-clockwise direction. For example, a plurality of electromagnets may be placed on rotatable cylinder 306 (not shown in
To rotate rotatable cylinder 306, the magnetic field produced by the plurality of electromagnets on rotatable cylinder 306 interacts with the magnetic field produced by electromagnets 310 on housing 302. The rotation of rotatable cylinder 306 is controlled by selectively switching polarities of the plurality of electromagnets on rotatable cylinder 306 or electromagnets 310 on housing 302. By using the one or more electromagnets on rotatable cylinder 306 and electromagnets 310 on housing 302, rotatable cylinder 306 may be rotated without contacting housing 302.
In addition to the plurality of electromagnets for rotating the one or more rotatable cylinders, apparatus 300 may further include a plurality of stabilizing electromagnets (not shown in
In response to rotation of rotatable cylinder 306, perforations 308 frictionally interact with the fluids to produce one or more vapors and separate the one or more impurities from the fluids. Thereafter, the one or more impurities are collected in an impurity collector 312 and the generated one or more vapors are condensed and collected as one or more distilled fluids through a condenser 314 as explained in conjunction with
In another embodiment, the plurality of friction elements associated with the one or more rotatable cylinders may include corrugations. This embodiment is explained in conjunction with
Rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 include a plurality of friction elements on one or more of an inner wall and an outer wall. The plurality of friction elements may include a plurality of corrugations such as corrugations 410 associated with rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408. For example, corrugations 410 may be present on an outer wall of cylinder 406 and on an inner wall of cylinder 408. The friction elements may further include, but are not limited to, perforations, grooves, arcs, teeth, and ridges. Corrugations 410 associated with rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 frictionally interact with the fluids in housing 402 on rotation of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 to generate heat. For example, during operation, the fluids present in a gap between rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 are agitated or stirred by corrugations 410 to generate heat. This heat causes the fluids to evaporate as one or more vapors. Here, the fluids may form vapor at different temperatures corresponding to the boiling temperatures associated with the fluids.
To rotate rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408, a plurality of electromagnets may be used. Rotation of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 using a plurality of electromagnets is explained in conjunction with
To stabilize one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 during rotation of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408, a plurality of stabilizing electromagnets may be provided. In other words, the stabilizing electromagnets prevent vibration of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 during rotation of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408. In one embodiment, a stabilizing electromagnet of the plurality of stabilizing electromagnets may include a superconducting magnet. The superconductivity associated with these superconducting magnets enables suspension of one or more of rotatable cylinders, such as rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 at a fixed distance from housing 402. As a result, vibration of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 during rotation can be avoided.
In response to rotation of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408, the centrifugal force generated causes the fluids to separate out into different rings based on the densities associated with each fluid. Thereafter, corrugations 410 associated with rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinders 408 frictionally interact with the fluids causing fluid friction and generating heat. The fluid friction caused as a result of frictional interaction between corrugations 410 and the fluids increases a temperature of the fluids. The increase in temperature of the fluids results in evaporation of the fluids as one or more vapors. The rotation of one or more of rotatable cylinder 406 and rotatable cylinder 408 further causes one or more impurities associated with the fluids to separate from the fluids and collect in an impurity collector 412 as explained in conjunction with
To enable the flow of the one or more impurities into impurity collector 412, one or more openings such as openings 502 as illustrated in
The one or more vapors generated as a result of frictional interaction of corrugations 410 is collected by one or more condensers such as a condenser 414. Condenser 414 includes a first portion 414a and a second portion 414b (illustrated in
Further, condenser 414 may include one or more compression units such as compression unit 418 for compressing the one or more vapors. Compression unit 418 compresses the one or more vapors to increase condensation temperature of the one or more vapors. The increased condensation temperature allows the one or more vapors to exchange heat with the fluids at a higher temperature as explained in conjunction with
Rotatable cylinders 804-810 include a plurality of friction elements such as grooves 812 on one or more of an inner wall and an outer wall. For example, grooves 812 may be associated with an outer wall of rotatable cylinder 804, an inner wall of rotatable cylinder 806, an outer wall of rotatable cylinder 808 and an inner wall of rotatable cylinder 810. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the placement of grooves 812 of rotatable cylinders 804-810, is not limited to the configuration disclosed herein but may be configured in any other combination.
During operation of apparatus 800, rotatable cylinders 804-810 are rotated in one or more of a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction. Here, rotatable cylinders 804-810 may be rotated by, but not limited to, a plurality of electromagnets as explained in conjunction with
Various embodiments of this disclosure provide a fluid friction-based distillation and processing system for distilling one or more fluids. Here, the one or more fluids need not be pre-treated before being processed in the apparatus. Also, the apparatus discharges pure fluid with no fluids wasted as effluents and the impurities are discharged as crystals and solids. Further, the heat generated from the generation of one or more vapors is re-circulated to the one or more fluids thereby reducing the cost associated with distilling the one or more fluids. Further, a plurality of electromagnets may be used to provide contactless rotation to the one or more cylinders thereby reducing cost and mechanical wear of the apparatus. The apparatus further provides a plurality of stabilizing electromagnets for preventing large rotatable cylinders from vibrating and damaging the apparatus.
Those skilled in the art will realize that the above recognized advantages and other advantages described herein are merely exemplary and are not meant to be a complete rendering of all of the advantages of the various embodiments of the present invention.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. This disclosure is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.