Patent ID: 6911121

Claim:
A continuous contacting apparatus for separating a liquid component from a liquid mixture, the apparatus comprising: an evaporation chamber having first and second ends, an inlet and an outlet for a carrier gas, and an inlet and an outlet for a liquid mixture, wherein the inlet for the liquid mixture and the outlet of the carrier gas are located on the first end of the evaporation chamber; a dew-formation chamber having an inlet and an outlet for a carrier gas, and an outlet for the separable liquid component, wherein the inlet for the carrier gas of the dew-formation chamber is situated in a countercurrent manner to the inlet for the carrier gas of the evaporation chamber; a common heat transfer wall in continuous contact with the liquid mixture, wherein the heat transfer wall is adjacent the evaporation chamber and the dew-formation chamber and is capable of providing thermal communication between the evaporation chamber and the dew-formation chamber; and a heating apparatus for heating the carrier gas from the outlet of the evaporation chamber, wherein the heated carrier gas is directed to flow into the inlet of the dew-formation chamber; wherein the apparatus provides a condensate production flux from about 0.045 to about 2.27 kg of condensate per hour/ 2 of heat transfer wall.