Patent ID: 8435387

Claim:
A method of at least partially separating components, comprising: passing a first fluid through a microchannel essentially free of interior microchannel surface irregularities, through a first inlet of the microchannel, wherein the first fluid comprises a first component with a first boiling point and second component with a second boiling point that is higher than the first boiling point; passing a second fluid, largely separate from the first fluid, through the microchannel as a series of slugs in a segmented flow configuration with the first fluid, through a second inlet of the microchannel; flowing the fluids through the microchannel; heating the fluids within the microchannel to a temperature at or above the boiling point of the first component, allowing at least some of the first component to be transferred from the first fluid to the second fluid; and separating at least a portion of the first fluid from the second fluid.