Patent ID: 8591704

Claim:
A fractionation process for producing at least two concentration fractions of a fluid comprising a solute, suspended or dissolved content using at least two fluidly connected evaporator units, the process comprising the steps of: feeding a feed fluid comprising the solute, suspended or dissolved content into at least a first evaporator unit; evaporating a first amount of fluid from the feed fluid in at least the first evaporator unit to produce a first concentrated fluid; feeding at least a portion of the first concentrated fluid into at least a second evaporator unit; evaporating a second amount of fluid from the first concentrated fluid in at least the second evaporator unit to produce a second concentrated fluid, controlling the concentration of the suspended or dissolved content of one or more of the first or second concentrated fluid within a predetermined concentration range; and diverting a portion of the first concentrated fluid from a flow path from between the first evaporator unit and the second evaporator unit to produce a product stream.