A shell-and-tube equipment has a cylindrical geometry and is arranged along a vertical axis. The shell-and-tube equipment comprises an upper chamber and a lower chamber connected to a common tube bundle on opposite sides. The upper chamber is provided with at least an inlet nozzle for inletting a first fluid. The tube bundle is surrounded by a shell provided with nozzles for inletting and outletting a second fluid which exchanges heat with the first fluid through the tube bundle. The upper chamber encloses at least a distribution device configured for uniformly delivering the first fluid towards the tube bundle. The distribution device comprises an annular channel which is arranged around the vertical axis and is in fluid communication with the inlet nozzle. The distribution device comprises a plurality of channel modules of circular trapezoid shape, tightly joined together at their respective vertical edges for forming the annular channel.

A liquid separator and concentrator is disclosed. An example liquid separator and concentrator includes a separator column. A spray chamber has a sprayer nozzle to spray an influent within the spray chamber and create a falling film in the separator column. A heating jacket surrounds the separator column, wherein the heating jacket heats the falling film to evaporate at least one portion of the falling film and leaves a concentrate. A concentrate collection vessel receives the concentrate from the separator column.

The invention relates to a distillation unit (100 000) which is designed for a continuous distillation process and to a method for a continuous operation for separating a liquid substance mixture (10) into two to six liquid product flows (201, 202, . . . ) with different compositions and into a gaseous product flow (300). For this purpose, an evaporation unit (10 000) is provided consisting of multiple evaporation devices (10 000-1, 10 000-2, . . . ), wherein each evaporation device has a circuit device (1 200-1, 1 200-2, . . . ) for recirculating a sub-quantity of each of the liquid sump flows (22, 21, . . . ) of an evaporation device into the respective evaporation device, and each of the circuit devices additionally has a discharge device (1 300-1, 1 300-2, . . . ) for providing one of the liquid product flows (201, 202, . . . ).

A method of obtaining ketones from a fermentation process may include collecting an off-gas and a fermented broth from a fermenter, transferring the off-gas from the fermenter to a ketone recuperation module and the fermented broth to a fluid separating module, and isolating the ketones from both the off-gas and the fermented broth. The off-gas and the fermented broth may both comprise a ketone

A shell-and-tube stripper for carbamate decomposition and ammonia recovery from a urea solution comprising a bundle of heated tubes, said tubes being fed with said urea solution and carbon dioxide as stripping medium, the urea solutions forming a liquid falling film on the internal surface of the tubes and the carbon dioxide forming a counter-current gaseous flow; said tubes comprise an external layer made of super austenitic or super duplex stainless steel and an internal layer made of zirconium, said internal layer reaching temperatures higher than 220 C.

A distillation apparatus includes at least one evaporation space in which feed water is evaporated into a vapour and at least one condensation space, in which vapour from a preceding evaporation space is condensed into distillate. The evaporation space and the condensation space each include a chamber and a plurality of interdigitated pockets arranged between said chambers, such that a first pocket of the evaporation space is present between a first and a second pocket of the condensation space, and that the first pocket of the condensation space is present between the first and a second pocket of the evaporation space. The spaces are mutually separated by means of a separation barrier that is configured for transmission of heat and for definition of the interdigitated pockets.

A system for processing essential oils includes a mixing tank, three winterization vessels, three respective filtering vessels, a fine filtering vessel, a holding tank, an evaporator, an essential oil reservoir, a solvent reservoir, and a solvent filtering vessel. The evaporator can include a heat exchanger configured to heat a plate down which a mixture including the oils flows, to evaporate other components of the mixture. Fluids can be advanced through the system using a pressurized inert gas.

An apparatus for evaporative concentration of water, containing hardness-causing substances, to be treated using hot lime softening, includes: a first evaporator configured to form first concentrated water from the water to be treated by evaporatively concentrating the water by first heat exchange with hot steam; a hot lime softener configured to precipitate and to separate hardness-causing substances contained in the first concentrated water from at least a portion of the first concentrated water from the first evaporator by reaction with lime and configured to remove the hardness-causing substances from the first concentrated water; and a second evaporator configured to form second concentrated water by further evaporatively concentrating at least a portion of the first concentrated water that passed through the hot lime softener by second heat exchange with hot steam.

An apparatus for evaporative concentration of water, containing hardness-causing substances, to be treated using hot lime softening, includes: a first evaporator configured to form first concentrated water from the water to be treated by evaporatively concentrating the water by first heat exchange with hot steam; a hot lime softener configured to precipitate and to separate hardness-causing substances contained in the first concentrated water from at least a portion of the first concentrated water from the first evaporator by reaction with lime and configured to remove the hardness-causing substances from the first concentrated water; and a second evaporator configured to form second concentrated water by further evaporatively concentrating at least a portion of the first concentrated water that passed through the hot lime softener by second heat exchange with hot steam.

Methods may include obtaining ketones and glycols from a fermentation process, the method including: collecting an off-gas and/or a fermented broth from the fermenter, wherein the off-gas comprises a ketone, and wherein the fermented broth comprises one or more of glycol or ketone; and performing at least one of: transferring the off-gas from the fermenter to a ketone recuperation module; or transferring the fermented broth to a fluid separating module; and isolating one or more of: the ketone from the off-gas; and the glycol from the fermented broth.