Patent ID: 7601377

Claim:
A method for processing an aqueous liquid, comprising: (a) providing a vacuum chamber, having a heating element for providing at least a portion of a latent heat of vaporization of a condensable gas within the vacuum chamber; a spray nozzle, for producing an atomized aqueous liquid spray pattern of a cool aqueous liquid within the vacuum chamber, the cool aqueous liquid comprising varying amounts of a dissolved volatile non-condensable component, wherein at least a portion of the varying amounts of dissolved volatile non-condensable component are released from the cool aqueous liquid after passing through the spray nozzle; a conduit for continuously withdrawing, to achieve subatmospheric pressure, at least a portion of the released volatile non-condensable component from the vacuum chamber; and a liquid withdrawal conduit, to permit egress of pooled processed liquid from the vacuum chamber after treatment; (b) controlling conditions in the vacuum chamber comprising at least (i) a subatmospheric pressure within the vacuum chamber; and (ii) temperature conditions within the vacuum chamber adapted to achieve a steady state of condensation of the condensable gas on the atomized droplets of cool aqueous liquid; (c) condensing the condensable gas on relatively cooler atomized droplets of cool aqueous liquid from the spray nozzle, to thereby heat the droplets of cool aqueous liquid by release of the latent heat of vaporization; and (d) withdrawing processed aqueous liquid from the vacuum chamber through the liquid withdrawal conduit.