Patent ID: 8202403

Claim:
A distillation tower having a liquid-vapor separation assembly and comprising: (i) an outer shell defining an inner peripheral arcuate wall around a central hollow core; (ii) at least one tangential feed inlet; (iii) a channel leading from the at least one tangential feed inlet and having a closed top and an open bottom defined by the inner peripheral arcuate wall and an interior wall spaced from the inner peripheral wall and connected thereto by a top wall to form the channel to impart a spinning motion to the vapor within the channel and the vapor that flows in a vapor flow path extending from the inlet, through the channel, under the interior wall and up into the hollow central core; and (iv) a plurality of vapor permeable barriers extending into the vapor flow path in the central hollow core of the tower to form an obstruction in the spinning vapor in the vapor flow path in the central hollow core.