Rotating evaporator device for liquid distillation or concentration

1 . A rotating evaporator, comprising;

a housing comprising a chamber;

a rotor assembly disposed in the chamber and comprising:

distillation elements that each comprise an internal cavity, condensation surfaces that face the internal cavity, and evaporation surfaces that face away from the internal cavity; and

a vapor manifold extending through the distillation elements and configured to provide a vapor to the internal cavities;

wiper assemblies configured to form a liquid film on the evaporation surfaces;

condensate scoops located in the respective inner cavities of the distillation elements and configured to collect a condensate from the condensation surfaces;

a condensate manifold extending through the vapor manifold and configured to receive the condensate from the condensate scoops; and

a drive assembly configured to rotate the rotor assembly, the drive assembly comprising:

a drive shaft; and

drive rollers disposed on the drive shaft and contacting outer circumferential contact surfaces of the distillation elements;

wherein:

each distillation element comprises a pair of annular evaporator disks, each evaporator disk comprising an outer circumferential edge, an inner circumferential edge, the condensation surface, and the evaporation surface;

the outer circumferential edges of each pair of evaporator disks are connected to form the outer circumferential contact surfaces; and

the inner circumferential edges of the evaporator disks of adjacent distillation elements are connected to form the vapor manifold.

2 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , wherein the rotor assembly comprises contactors that connect the outer circumferential edges of each pair of evaporator disks and form the outer circumferential contact surfaces of the distillation elements.

3 . The rotating evaporator of claim 2 , wherein:

the contactors comprise protrusions; and

the drive rollers comprise recesses configured to mate with the protrusions.

4 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , wherein:

the outer circumferential edges of each pair of evaporator disks are inwardly bent to form first flanges, and the first flanges of each pair of evaporator disks are connected to form the outer circumferential contact surfaces; and

the inner circumferential edges of each pair of evaporator disks are outwardly bent to form second flanges, and the second flanges of the evaporator disks of adjacent distillation elements are connected to form the vapor manifold.

5 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , further comprising spacers disposed on the drive shaft and configured to separate the drive rollers.

6 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , further comprising:

a first bracket comprising bearings and disposed on a first side of the chamber; and

a second bracket comprising bearings and disposed on a second side of the chamber,

wherein a first end of the rotor assembly is supported by the first bracket and a second end of the rotor assembly is supported by the second bracket.

7 . The rotating evaporator of claim 6 , wherein the chamber further comprises a shelf that supports the second bracket.

8 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , further comprising vapor vanes disposed between at least two of the distillation elements and configured to accelerate a vapor generated on the evaporation surfaces of the distillation elements away from the vapor manifold.

9 . The rotating evaporator of claim 8 , wherein the vapor vanes are curved in a direction of rotation of the distillation elements.

10 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , wherein the wiper assemblies each comprise at least two wipers that contact each of the evaporation surfaces.

11 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , wherein the wiper assemblies each comprise at least three wipers that contact each of the evaporation surfaces.

12 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , further comprising idler rollers.

13 . The rotating evaporator of claim 12 , wherein the idler rollers are configured to contact the outer circumferential contact surfaces and maintain an alignment of the distillation elements.

14 . The rotating evaporator of claim 13 , wherein at least two of the idler rollers are provided for each distillation element.

15 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , further comprising a lifting tool configured to remove the rotor assembly from the chamber, the lifting tool comprising:

a support rod; and

lifting hooks moveably attached to the support rod and configured to support an outer surface of the vapor manifold.

16 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , wherein the chamber further comprises a reservoir configured to contain a feed solution.

17 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises multiple fluidly connected chambers, and each chamber comprises the rotor assembly, the wiper assemblies, and the drive assembly.

18 . The rotating evaporator of claim 1 , further comprising a motor connected to the drive shaft.

19 . A method of operating the rotating evaporator of claim 1 , comprising:

rotating the drive rollers which rotate the rotor assembly by contacting the outer circumferential contact surfaces of the distillation elements;

providing the vapor to the internal cavities from the vapor manifold;

condensing the vapor on the condensation surfaces in the internal cavities to form a condensate;

collecting the condensate from the condensation surfaces using the condensate scoops;

providing the condensate from the condensate scoops into the condensate manifold;

forming a liquid film on the evaporation surfaces using the wiper assemblies; and

evaporating the liquid film on the evaporation surfaces using heat from the vapor condensing the vapor on the condensation surfaces.