An aqueous stream cleaning system including a circulation pump to receive a waste fluid and/or a concentrated liquid bottoms stream, and expel a circulation stream. The aqueous stream cleaning system can also include a primary heat exchanger to receive the circulation stream from the circulation pump. The primary heat exchanger can have a plurality of heat exchange plates that define an internal surface area for heat transfer from a distillate stream to the circulation stream to produce a cooled distillate stream and a heated circulation stream. The plurality of heat exchange plates can be spaced to facilitate free flow of solids in the circulation stream between the plurality of heat exchange plates. A mass flow rate and pressure of the circulation stream can be configured to minimize build-up of solids in the primary heat exchanger. The aqueous stream cleaning system can further include an evaporation unit to receive the heated circulation stream from the primary heat exchanger. The distillate stream is formed when steam in the heated circulation stream evaporates in the evaporation unit, and the concentrated liquid bottoms stream is formed from a portion of the heated circulation stream that does not evaporate.

An interconnected open-pore 2.5D Cu/CuO foam-based photothermal evaporator capable of achieving a high evaporation rate of 4.1 kg m.sup.-2 h.sup.-1 under one sun illumination by exposing one end of the planar structure to air is disclosed. The micro-sized open-pore structure of Cu/CuO foam allows it to trap incident sunlight, and the densely distributed blade-like CuO nanostructures effectively scatter sunlight inside pores simultaneously. The inherent hydrophilicity of CuO and capillarity forces from the porous structure of Cu foam continuously supply sufficient water. Moreover, the doubled working sides of Cu/CuO foam enlarge the exposure area enabling efficient vapor diffusion. The feasible fabrication process and the combined structural features of Cu/CuO foam offer new insight into the future development of solar-driven evaporators in large-scale applications with practical durability.

A wastewater evaporative separation system can include an evaporation panel assembly having a plurality of individual evaporation panels laterally and releasably joined together, the evaporation panel assembly configured for receiving wastewater from a body of wastewater and evaporating water therefrom as the wastewater cascades down the evaporation panel assembly and contaminants become more concentrated. The system also includes a wastewater delivery system fluidly associated with the body of wastewater with a fluid directing assembly delivering the wastewater from the body of wastewater to an upper portion of the evaporation panel assembly.

The present disclosure evaporation panel systems including plurality of evaporation panels, wherein a first evaporation panel and a second evaporation panel of the plurality of evaporation panels each include evaporation shelves and support columns to support and separate to the evaporation shelves. At least a portion of the support columns include evaporation fins so that wastewater is loadable along the support column. The first evaporation panel and the second evaporation panel in this example are releasably connectable to one another to form a sub-assembly.

The present disclosure relates a system for the treatment of water. The water treatment system may be linked an aquatic protection system or a water filtration system.

An evaporation panel can include a first evaporation shelf including a first upper surface and a first lower surface, a second evaporation shelf positioned beneath the first evaporation shelf and having a second upper surface, and a support column disposed between the first evaporation shelf and the second evaporation shelf. In this example, the support column can include an evaporation fin.

A fluid vapor distillation apparatus. The apparatus includes a source fluid input, and an evaporator condenser apparatus. The evaporator condenser apparatus includes a substantially cylindrical housing and a plurality of tubes in the housing. The source fluid input is fluidly connected to the evaporator condenser and the evaporator condenser transforms source fluid into steam and transforms compressed steam into product fluid. Also included in the fluid vapor distillation apparatus is a heat exchanger fluidly connected to the source fluid input and a product fluid output. The heat exchanger includes an outer tube and at least one inner tube. Also included in the fluid vapor distillation apparatus is a regenerative blower fluidly connected to the evaporator condenser. The regenerative blower compresses steam, and the compressed steam flows to the evaporative condenser where compressed steam is transformed into product fluid.

Embodiments of the invention are directed toward a novel pressurized vapor cycle for distilling liquids. In some embodiments of the invention, a liquid purification system is revealed, including the elements of an input for receiving untreated liquid, a vaporizer coupled to the input for transforming the liquid to vapor, a head chamber for collecting the vapor, a vapor pump with an internal drive shaft and an eccentric rotor with a rotatable housing for compressing vapor, and a condenser in communication with the vapor pump for transforming the compressed vapor into a distilled product. Other embodiments of the invention are directed toward heat management, and other process enhancements for making the system especially efficient.

A devolatilizer (devo), which operates at a temperature (T) and at a pressure (P), for the separation of at least a portion of a solvent from a polymer-rich solution comprising the solvent and a polymer, and wherein the devolatilizer comprises at least the following components: A) a distributor, a heater, or a heater/distributor combination; B) a shroud (component B) located around some or all of the periphery of component A; and C) a gap (component C) located between the outer surface of component A and the inner surface of component B.

In at least one embodiment, a devolatilization vessel includes a first set of one or more devolatilization plates and a second set of one or more devolatilization plates. A first distributor is above the first set of one or more devolatilization plates and the second set of one or more devolatilization plates. A second distributor is above the second set of one or more devolatilization plates. In at least one embodiment, a process of forming a polymer includes forming a first polymer solution having a first viscosity and forming a second polymer solution having a second viscosity. The process includes flowing the first polymer solution and the second polymer solution to a devolatilization vessel. The process includes removing volatiles from the first polymer solution and the second polymer solution in the devolatilization vessel to form a devolatilized first polymer melt and a devolatilized second polymer melt.