A heat and mass transfer system configured to be a passive system using gravitational force to form a thin liquid film flow on an outer surface of a flow distribution head and downstream conduit member to subject the thin liquid film to heat transfer mediums. The at least partially spherical flow distribution head creates a uniform thin flow of liquid on the outer surface increasing the efficiency of the heat and mass transfer system. The heat and mass transfer system may include a heat transfer medium supply system in fluid communication with internal aspects of the downstream conduit such that a heat transfer medium flows within the downstream conduit while the liquid film flows on the outer surface of the downstream conduit. Rather than conventional sheet flow on inner surfaces of a conduit, the flow distribution head enables sheet flow to be formed on an outside surface of a component.

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 hybrid process and system for separating water from an inlet brine solution is disclosed. The hybrid process couples at least two different separation processes/systems. The inlet brine solution is fed into a first separation process, which produces a water distillate and a brine concentrate. The brine concentrate from the first separation process is then fed into the second separation process to further recover additional water. The excess heat from the second separation process is supplied to the first separation process.

A vapor distillation system, method, and control architecture are provided for producing purified water using an evaporator-condenser assembly, a sump with a heater, and a control system that operates the apparatus across multiple operating states. Temperature signals from one or more temperature sensors are used to regulate heater operation and venting of vapor. Liquid-level information from one or more level sensors is used to control fluid inlet and outlet valves, including source-water and blowdown flow paths, to maintain stable operation under varying load and thermal conditions. Additional embodiments include product-water handling assemblies incorporating product tanks, product-level sensing, and automated product-flow control. Further embodiments include downstream additive management, where additives are supplied using time-release elements or reservoir coatings, and water-quality parameters are monitored to trigger user-perceptible indications for servicing. Biological detection elements, microarray monitoring, and remote reporting of water-quality parameters may also be incorporated.