Apparatus for Heating Fluids

Abstract

The apparatus described herein uses a disc wafer-type rotor featuring channels disposed around its circumference and around the interior circumference of the rotor housing specifically to induce cavitation. The channels are shaped to control the size, oscillation, composition, duration, and implosion of the cavitation bubbles. The rotor is attached to a shaft which is driven by external power means. Fluid pumped into the device is subjected to the relative motion between the rotor and the device housing, and exits the device at increased temperature. The device is thermodynamically highly efficient, despite the structural and mechanical simplicity of the apparatus. Such devices accordingly provide efficient, simple, inexpensive, and reliable sources of distilled potable water for residential, commercial, and industrial use, as well as the separation and evaporation of other liquids.

Claims

1.-18. (canceled)

19. A method of extracting at least one substance from a fluid comprising: (a) providing a fluid containing at least one substance therein; (b) passing the fluid through a cavitation zone; (c) causing cavitation events in the fluid that produce shock waves and pressure variations in the cavitation zone, the cavitation zone being defined between the outer peripheral surface of a rotor and an interior surface of a housing within which the rotor is rotatably mounted, the rotor having cavitation inducing structures on its outer peripheral surface, and wherein the step of causing cavitation events comprises rotating the rotor within the housing as the mixture passes through the cavitation zone; and (d) separating at least one of the substances from the fluid.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein in step (c), the shock waves and pressure variations are controlled by varying the rotation rate of the rotor.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein in step (a), the fluid comprises water.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising subjecting the mixture to a non-cavitation based process prior to step (b).

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising subjecting the mixture to a non-cavitation based extraction process following step (c).

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the fluid contains at least one petroleum product.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the fluid contains at least one oil.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the cavitation inducing structures comprise indentations.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising repeating step (c) two or more times.

28. The method of claim 19, further comprising, after step (c), causing the fluid to flow from the cavitation zone into a tank.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising, after step (c), causing at least a portion of the fluid to flow through a heat exchanger.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is an isometric rendering of the components of a cavitation-based distillation system.

[0017] FIG. 2 shows an isometric rendering of the cavitation generator unit and motor, with a cutaway view of the cavitation generator showing the irregularities in the rotor and rotor housing.

[0018] FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional cutaway view showing the cavitation generating irregularities of the rotor and rotor housing.

[0019] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the cavitation generator having smoothly curved channels in the circumference of the rotor and the rotor housing

[0020] FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the cavitation generator having angular, square-shaped channels in the circumference of the rotor and the rotor housing.

[0021] FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the cavitation generator having open polygonal shaped channels in the circumference of the rotor and the rotor housing.

[0022] FIG. 7 is a system block diagram of an application of the invention used to purify waste water byproducts from hydraulic fracturing operations used in natural gas production.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the preferred embodiment of a system 20 designed to purify contaminated water, such as frac water, in batches. The contaminated fluid is first pumped into tank 8. From the tank, the fluid passes through tank outlet line 17 to the inlet of cavitation generator 1. As shown in FIG. 2 and as described above, the cavitation generator consists of two primary parts, a rotor housing 4 and a rotor 5. The rotor 5 is driven by a shaft 3 that is coupled to a motor 2. In the preferred embodiment, an electric motor is used. The size of the motor is dependent on the size of the unit; typically, 500 or 1000 horsepower motors would be used for applications requiring purification of up to 100,000 gallons per day. One skilled in the art will realize that any type of motive power capable of providing torque to a shaft can be substituted for an electric motor, although in these cases additional mechanical complexity may be required in the form of gears to match motor speed with the desired rotor rotational speed (typically 1600-4000 RPM).

[0024] The speed of the rotor is one of several variables involved in inducing cavitation. Typically, the outer edge of the rotor indentations (i.e. the tips shown in FIGS. 3-6) must have a speed of at least 90 feet per second to induce cavitation in frac water, so the smaller the rotor diameter, the larger the RPM required to generate the required tip speed, and vice versa. The RPM range given above was found to be sufficient for rotors ranging in size from 5 inches in diameter to 36 inches in diameter.

[0025] As contaminated fluid passes from tank 8 into the inlet of the cavitation generator 1, it fills a cavity between the rotor 5 and the rotor housing 4 as shown in FIG. 3. For applications involving frac water, the gap between the rotor and housing is 0.250 inches. This gap, however, varies with the type of fluid designed to be heated. The exterior of the rotor and the interior of the housing contain indentations that are designed to maximize cavitation in the fluid flowing through the cavitation generator.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 3, these indentations may be inclined into or away from the direction of rotation. The angle of inclination of the indentations either into or away from the flow and the depth of the indentations themselves will depend on the nature of the fluid to be heated. FIGS. 3, 5-6 shows indentations that are defined by the intersection of planar surfaces, while FIG. 4 shows indentations that are curved.

[0027] Cavitation bubbles are generated as the low-pressure boundary layer of the water in contact with the surface of the rapidly spinning rotor is swept over the lip of the indentations. This is similar to water flowing around a sharp bend in a pipe, where the pressure on the outside (concave wall) of the curve is higher than that on the inside (convex wall), where cavitation can occur. In the pipe the bubbles would be carried away by the movement of the fluid, but in the present invention the rotor indentations’ shape and depth act to fix the location of the cavitation bubbles until the bubbles implode generating heat which is immediately imparted to the fluid. Additionally as the harmonics of the device come into play the bubbles began to oscillate and continue to reform and collapse. Bubble size and collapse are the results of the specifics of the irregularities and rotor design, causing millions of cavitation bubbles to form and collapse simultaneously. The heat generated by the collapsing bubbles is imparted directly to the fluid.

[0028] The depth, shape, and number of these indentations, their inclination relative to the fluid flow, the speed of the outer part of the rotor (i.e. the tip), as well as the amount of time the fluid spends inside the cavitation generator determine how effective the cavitation generator is at generating heat. These variables depend upon the nature of the fluid to be heated. The viscosity of the fluid is a major factor in optimizing the design of the rotor and housing. Higher viscosity fluids are generally more resistant to the formation of cavitation. All of the current embodiments feature indentations in both the rotor and the interior housing, which tend to increase the shear and therefore are ideally suited to counteract viscosity effects in the fluid.

[0029] Contaminated fluid pumped into cavitation generator 1 flows past the rotor, which is moving at high speed relative to the fluid. Hydrodynamic flow patterns over the irregularities described above in the rotor and housing result in low pressure regions in the indentations, which causes the rapid formation and collapse of cavitation bubbles, resulting in heat which is then transferred to the fluid. The heated fluid passes out of the cavitation generator 1 and back into tank 8 through tank inlet line 9. The temperature differential between the inlet and outlet of the cavitation generator is measured by water inlet temperature sensor 18 and water outlet temperature sensors 19 and displayed on panel 6. The contaminated fluid is recirculated between tank 8 and cavitation generator 1 until the fluid in the tank begins to vaporize. Pressure in the system is maintained by recirculation pump 7. In the preferred embodiment, recirculation pump is a centrifugal pump driven by a 1 horsepower electric motor controlled from control panel 10.

[0030] As fluid continuously circulates from tank 8 to the cavitation generator 1 and back, the temperature of the fluid rises until steam is produced in tank 8. The steam produced from the contaminated fluid in the tank passes through the top of tank 8 into steam supply line 12 and then into heat exchanger 13. In heat exchanger 13, the steam condensed and passes through condensate outlet line 15 and is collected. The collected fluid has now been purified and can be returned to its source. Cooling water from an outside source, such contaminated frac water as shown in FIG. 7, is provided to the system through heat exchanger cooling water inlet 14. Power to the recirculation pump 7 is controlled at panel 10, system temperatures are displayed on panel 6, and power is provided through power box 11.

[0031] The fluid purification system described above processes contaminated fluid in batches. Once the level of the contaminated fluid in the tank decreases to a certain level, additional fluid is added. At the end of the purification process, remaining liquid in tank 8 is drained through tank drain valve 16.

[0032] Prior art cavitation generators by Griggs used cylindrical dead-end bores in the rotor to generate shock waves in the fluid. However, it was discovered that cavitation effects were enhanced by modifying Griggs' design in two ways.

[0033] First, the Griggs patents only disclose cylindrical indentations disposed around the circumference of the rotor. However, the current invention uses linear or curvilinear channels in the inner surface of the rotor housing that are similar to, and complimentary with, similar channels on the rotor's circumference. It was discovered that the presence of channels in the inner surface of the housing as well as on the rotor increases shear in the fluid, encouraging turbulence and greatly enhancing cavitation and water hammer effect. As explained above, cavitation is desirable in this application because the rapid formation and violent collapse of cavitation bubbles generated results in significant heat being generated internally in the fluid.

[0034] Second, instead of cylindrical dead-end bores disposed around the circumference of the rotor, the channels in the rotor's circumference extend across the width of the rotor, which results in increased surface area exposed to the fluid. In certain preferred embodiments shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 6, when viewed in cross section, the channels have one or more angular corners defined by two or more intersecting planar surfaces in the rotor where the linear intersection of these two surfaces is oriented generally parallel to the rotor's rotational axis. In other embodiments, however, the channels have smoothly curved walls ending with a discontinuity at the tip, such as those shown in FIG. 4.

[0035] Initial test results indicate that the currently disclosed design is more efficient than prior art models. Distilling units using designs disclosed herein are approximately 30% smaller than prior art units based on Griggs' earlier cylindrical dead-end bore design, for the same amount of distilling capacity.

[0036] Other rotor and housing embodiments specifically adapted for heating contaminated water (“frac water”) used in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) operations are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. One embodiment shown in FIG. 5 has a rotor that is 8.5 inches in diameter. The rotor channels disposed circumferentially when viewed in cross section are rectangular with a depth of approximately 0.75 inch and a width of approximately 0.5 inch. The rotor housing is 10.5 inches in outside diameter and 9.0 inches in inner diameter, and the corresponding channels in the rotor housing are typically 0.5 inches in depth and 0.5 inches in width. The gap between the edge of the mouth of the channels in the rotor and the rotor housing is 0.25 inches.

[0037] A second rotor-rotor housing embodiment used in frac water purification is shown in FIG. 6. The rotor is 6.75 inches in diameter, and the channels in the rotor are defined by open pentagonal channels disposed around the rotor's circumference as shown in FIG. 6. The bottom of the channels are typically square, with 0.5 inches on a side, with the channels flaring out at an angle to the outer circumference of the rotor (i.e. the tip of the tooth attached to the rotor). The outer diameter of the rotor housing is 10.5 inches and the inner diameter is 7.25 inches, leaving a gap of 0.25 inches between the tip of the pentagonal teeth of the rotor and the mouth of the channels in the rotor housing.

[0038] Also, it should be noted that although the rotor herein may be cylindrical, the rotor used in the preferred embodiments is a disc-wafer type rotor i.e., a flat disc with thickness less than its diameter, as opposed to the cylinder-shaped rotor disclosed in the prior Griggs patents. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the width of the rotor is 1.5 inches and the outside width of the rotor housing is 1.875 inches.

[0039] Yet another embodiment that is a working prototype for a full-scale system features a 9.5 inch diameter rotor that is 1 inch wide. The rotor is driven with a 25 horsepower motor to 4000 RPM. Such a prototype has purified 6.75 gallons of water per hour. A larger embodiment that is also a working prototype has a 28 inch diameter rotor which is 3 inches wide. the rotor is driven by a 125 horsepower diesel engine at 1800 RPM and distills 20 gallons of water every 2 hours and 20 minutes.

[0040] Another, large-scale embodiment of the system that is used to reclaim contaminated frac water is shown in FIG. 7. Return water from the fracturing process is pumped through a pre-screen filter 21, then into a mixing tank 22 where it is mixed with ozone from an ozone generator 23. The ozone-treated water from mixing tank 22 is then pumped to a 40 foot long container 24 housing the system 20 described above and shown in FIG. 1. The heated water is sent through a high-pressure jet pump 25, a sand bed filtration system 26, and then to heat exchanger 27. In heat exchanger 27, the steam is condensed through heat exchange with return water from the fracturing process. The return water is thereby pre-heated before it passes through pre-screen filter 21. The condensed water is then stored in a separation tank 28, before being either discharged to the environment or reused in the fracking process.