Evaporation-condensation systems and methods for their manufacture and use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10010811-B2
Application number	US-201314894897-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2013
Priority date	May 28, 2013
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

An evaporation-condensation system and methods of manufacturing and using the same are disclosed. The system may include a condensation surface having one or more wipers and a gas diffusion apparatus. The one or more wipers may be configured to move over the condensation surface to displace one or more of fouling material and condensed material that may be present on the condensation surface. The gas diffusion apparatus may include one or more anti-gas blades positioned substantially parallel to the condensation surface and one or more gas storage areas. The gas diffusion apparatus may be configured to guide an amount of vapor molecules towards the condensation surface and promote condensation of the vapor molecules by rotating the one or more anti-gas blades around a central axis and displacing an amount of non-condensable gas into the one or more gas storage areas.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An evaporation-condensation system comprising:
a condensation surface having one or more wipers, wherein the one or more wipers are configured to move over the condensation surface to displace one or more of fouling material and condensed material that may be present on the condensation surface; and
a gas diffusion apparatus comprising:
one or more anti-gas blades positioned parallel to the condensation surface; and
one or more gas storage areas,

wherein the gas diffusion apparatus is configured to guide an amount of vapor molecules towards the condensation surface and promote condensation of the vapor molecules by rotating the one or more anti-gas blades around a central axis and displacing an amount of non-condensable gas into the one or more gas storage areas.

2. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an evaporation surface configured to receive a fluid; and
one or more spreaders configured to move over the evaporation surface in contact with at least a portion of the fluid to generate a thin film of the fluid on the evaporation surface.

3. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 2 , further comprising a heat supply unit operably connected to the evaporation surface, wherein the heat supply unit is configured to heat the fluid, causing the fluid to transform to the vapor molecules.

4. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 2 , wherein the gas diffusion apparatus is positioned between the evaporation surface and the condensation surface and is configured to guide the vapor molecules from the evaporation surface towards the condensation surface.

5. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more wipers each comprise a curved shape and extend from a rotating center axis to a boundary area that corresponds to an area outside the condensation surface.

6. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more wipers are configured to rotate around the rotating center axis.

7. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more wipers are configured to rotate at a revolution rate of about 5 revolutions per minute to about 500 revolutions per minute.

8. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more wipers is pitched at an angle of about 5° to about 60° along a longitudinal axis of each wiper with respect to a plane perpendicular to the condensation surface.

9. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more gas storage areas are configured to reduce the concentration of the non-condensable gas.

10. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , wherein the evaporation-condensation system is one or more of a heat pipe, a vapor chamber, a condenser, a capillary-pumped loop, a desalination system, a distillation system, and a separation system.

11. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , wherein the condensation surface is configured to release heat when contacted by the vapor molecules, wherein the heat is used as a heat source for an evaporation surface in a second evaporation-condensation system.

12. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , wherein the non-condensable gas comprises one or more of nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and helium.

13. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 1 , further comprising a collecting brush positioned in contact with the condensation surface, wherein the collecting brush is configured to collect condensate from the condensation surface and deposit the condensate into one or more condensate reservoirs.

14. The evaporation-condensation system of claim 13 , wherein a guiding groove is configured to receive the condensate from the collecting brush and guide the condensate into the one or more condensate reservoirs.

15. A method of manufacturing an evaporation-condensation system, the method comprising:
providing a condensation surface configured to facilitate condensation of vapor molecules thereon;
arranging one or more wipers on the condensation surface, wherein the one or more wipers are configured to move over the condensation surface to displace fouling material that is present on the condensation surface; and
arranging a gas diffusion apparatus adjacent to the condensation surface, wherein the gas diffusion apparatus comprises one or more gas storage areas and is configured to guide an amount of vapor molecules towards the condensation surface and promote condensation of the vapor molecules by displacing an amount of non-condensable gas into the one or more gas storage areas.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
arranging an evaporation surface adjacent to the gas diffusion apparatus so that the gas diffusion apparatus is positioned between the evaporation surface and the condensation surface and is further configured to guide the vapor molecules from the evaporation surface towards the condensation surface; and
positioning one or more spreaders on the evaporation surface, wherein the one or more spreaders are configured to move over the evaporation surface in contact with at least a portion of a fluid to generate a thin film of the fluid on the evaporation surface.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
attaching a heat supply unit to the evaporation surface, wherein the heat supply unit is configured to heat the fluid, causing the fluid to transform to the vapor molecules.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein arranging the one or more wipers comprises arranging the one or more wipers in an evenly distributed pattern about a rotating center axis.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein arranging the one or more wipers comprises positioning the one or more wipers within a distance of the condensation surface such that the one or more wipers are in contact with at least a portion of the fouling material.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the distance is about 0.01 mm to about 1 mm.

21. The method of claim 15 , wherein arranging the one or more wipers comprises arranging each of the one or more wipers at a pitch angle of about 15° along a longitudinal axis of each wiper with respect to a plane perpendicular to the condensation surface.

22. The method of claim 15 , further comprising positioning one or more fans at or near the evaporation surface, wherein the one or more fans are configured to aid in displacing the non-condensable gas into the one or more gas storage areas.

23. The method of claim 15 , further comprising positioning one or more additional evaporation-condensation systems in thermal communication with the condensation surface, wherein the one or more additional evaporation-condensation systems are configured to obtain heat released from the condensation surface for use in evaporating additional fluid.

Assignees

• Empire Technology Dev Llc

Inventors

• Wang Hao

Classifications

• B01D1/225

  with blades or scrapers · CPC title

• B01D5/009 Primary

  Collecting, removing and/or treatment of the condensate · CPC title

• B01D1/22

  by bringing a thin layer of the liquid into contact with a heated surface {(B01D1/065 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B01D1/26

  Multiple-effect evaporating · CPC title

• B01D5/006

  with evaporation or distillation · CPC title