APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SEPARATING PURIFIED VOLATILE LIQUID FROM CRUDE VOLATILE LIQUID CONTAINING NON-VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS AND DISSOLVED INCONDENSIBLE GAS BY THE USE OF MECHANICAL ENERGY

摘要

The apparatus comprises a container closed to free communication with the atmosphere, and means for maintaining therein a body of crude volatile liquid at a predetermined surface level with an evacuated space thereabove containing a low pressure mixture of evaporated volatile liquid vapor and incondensible gas, an array of heat conducting tubes immersed in said body of crude liquid with their lower ends entering into a closed drum member, a fan blower arranged to maintain a pressure differential for heating said mixture by compression and friction and impelling it into the upper ends of the tubes, whereby through heat exchange the vapor is condensed to liquid and passes into the drum member together with incondensible gas. The apparatus is protected from pertubations affecting the maintenance of said pressure differential by including in the apparatus gas transporting means for enabling the fan blower to continuously recirculate a substantially constant predetermined amount of incondensible gas from said drum member back through said tubes whereby gas accumulation at the output side of the fan blower is eliminated, and means for returning the crude liquid surface to said predetermined level whenever it is lowered, whereby pressure fluctuations at the input side of the fan blower are eliminated. The apparatus is adapted for continuous automatic operation. Its principal utility is for desalination of sea water and purification of brackish and polluted water.