Patent ID: 7507370

Claim:
A method for disinfecting a fluid comprising: providing a fluid reactor including an annular wall having an inside wall surface; a rotor having an outer wall surface placed within the annular wall, wherein a gap spacing is provided between the inside wall surface of the annular wall and the outer wall surface of the rotor forming an annular fluid channel therebetween and wherein the gap spacing along the walls is non-uniform having a plurality of locations where the gap spacing is narrower than other locations in the gap; including at least one of the inside wall surface of the annular wall and the outer wall surface of the rotor having alternating peaks and valleys forming the non-uniform gap spacing; a fluid inlet in the annular wall in communication with the annular fluid channel; a fluid outlet in the annular wall also in communication with the annular fluid channel establishing Taylor-Couette flow within the annular fluid channel; wherein the Taylor-Couette flow comprises a plurality of circumferential, laminar vortices within the annular fluid channel.