Patent ID: 6365005
Filing Date: 2002-04-02
Classification: B01D,Y02P,Y10S

Abstract:
A vapor compression distillation process, comprising the steps of:circulating a liquid with a recirculation pump through an evaporation loop comprising said recirculation pump and an evaporation vessel in fluid communication with a first side of a primary heat exchanger; boiling said liquid in said evaporation vessel to produce a vapor; collecting said vapor in an upper portion of said evaporation vessel; passing said vapor through a vapor compressor to a second side of said primary heat exchanger so as to condense at least a portion of said vapor into a condensate; passing said condensate from an outlet of said second side of said primary heat exchanger to an inlet of a first side of a secondary heat exchanger; introducing additional amounts of said liquid at a feed rate into a feed loop comprising a feed pump and a second side of said secondary heat exchanger in fluid communication with a feed tank; transferring amounts of said liquid from said feed loop to said evaporation loop through a transfer line; controlling said amounts of liquid transferred so as to maintain the same volume of liquid in the evaporation loop; and wherein said step of circulating the liquid in the evaporation loop is carried out at a recirculation rate of 25 to 200 times the feed rate.