Distillation apparatus with cartridge and use thereof for distilling water

1. A distillation apparatus, comprising a distillation stage having a container, wherein the container is embodied as a vessel comprising a feed water inlet, a vapour inlet, a distillate outlet, a vapour exit and a brine outlet, wherein the vessel is provided with an evaporation space in which a feed water is evaporated into a first vapour and a condensation space in which a second vapour from said vapour inlet is condensed into a distillate, wherein the evaporation space and the condensation space are mutually separated by means of a separation barrier that is configured for transmission of heat and wherein the condensation space is configured for transportation of the distillate to the distillate outlet,

wherein said separation barrier is present in a spiral configuration around an inner hollow cylinder and which separation barrier forms a plurality of evaporation pockets and a plurality of condensation pockets which are interdigitated,

wherein the evaporation space comprises an evaporation chamber and said plurality of evaporation pockets and the condensation space comprises a condensation chamber and said plurality of condensation pockets, wherein the plurality of evaporation pockets and the plurality of condensation pockets are interdigitated such that a first evaporation pocket of said plurality of evaporation pockets of the evaporation space is present between a first condensation pocket and a second condensation pocket of said plurality of condensation pockets of the condensation space, and that the first condensation pocket of said plurality of condensation pockets of the condensation space is present between the first evaporation pocket and a second evaporation pocket of the evaporation space,

wherein the evaporation chamber, the interdigitated pluralities of evaporation pockets and condensation pockets and the condensation chamber are arranged one above the other, wherein the condensation chamber, the vapour inlet and the distillate outlet are disposed at a bottom side of the container, and wherein the condensation chamber is coupled to the vapour inlet and the distillate outlet; and wherein the evaporation chamber, the vapour exit and the feed water inlet are disposed at a top side of the container, and wherein the evaporation chamber is coupled to the vapour exit and to the feed water inlet,

wherein said vessel is further provided with a mounting means for mounting a cartridge and with accessibility means for installation and removal of the cartridge into and from the vessel,

wherein the cartridge comprises said separation barrier, which defines the interdigitated pockets, and said inner hollow cylinder, which inner hollow cylinder is mountable on said mounting means of the vessel, and

wherein the inner hollow cylinder of the cartridge is provided at its inside with a seal for sealing to said mounting means of the vessel.

2. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the separation barrier is based on a rolled up and mutually separated first and a second sheet material, wherein said first and second sheet material are sealed together pairwise in a manner to combine the individual sheet materials into the separation barrier.

3. The distillation apparatus of claim 2 , wherein a first spacer grid and a second spacer grid are rolled up with the first and second sheet materials, so that the first sheet material is present between the first and second spacer grids, wherein the first and second sheet materials are spaced apart by said spacer grids.

4. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the distillation stage is further configured for transportation of a remaining non-evaporated feed water.

5. The distillation apparatus of claim 4 , wherein a brine channel is present at a bottom of the evaporation space for transportation of the remaining non-evaporated feed water towards the brine outlet.

6. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said evaporation space is provided with a wicking layer of hydrophilic material, through which the feed water flows, and an adjacent vapour channel, wherein a condensation wall and the wicking layer are embodied in a sheet material, which is arranged such that the wicking layer is present in the pockets of the evaporation space and the condensation wall is present in the pockets of the condensation space.

7. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a water distributor is present at a top side of the container for distribution of the feed water onto evaporation surfaces of the pockets of the evaporation space.

8. The distillation apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the vessel has an upper compartment that is provided with the feed inlet, which upper compartment is further provided with the water distributor for distributing the feed water onto the evaporation surfaces in the evaporation space, said upper compartment being configured to be kept at a higher pressure during use than a remainder of the container.

9. The distillation apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the upper compartment is configured to be at a pressure in the range of 0.5-3 bar.

10. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vessel is provided with a core cylinder onto which said mounting means are arranged.

11. The distillation apparatus of claim 10 , wherein a space between the core cylinder and the inner hollow cylinder and any cylinder arranged in the vessel below said inner hollow cylinder constitute a brine flow path for flow of non-evaporated feed water from the brine channel towards the brine outlet.

12. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mounting means includes a carrier means for carrying said inner hollow cylinder at a predefined height above a bottom of the condensation space in the vessel.

13. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an inlet for a connection to a pump for setting a pressure, said inlet being arranged at a height level at which the interdigitated pockets extend.

14. The distillation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of distillation stages are present as separate entities that are mutually coupled so as to transmit feed water and vapour, wherein particularly a pressure in a second distillation stage is, in use, maintained at a lower level than a pressure in a first distillation stage.

15. A disposable cartridge for use in the distillation apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , comprising the separation barrier present in a spiral configuration around the inner hollow cylinder and which said separation barrier forms the plurality of evaporation pockets and the plurality of condensation pockets which are interdigitated, wherein said separation barrier comprises a first sheet material and a second sheet material which are rolled up and mutually separated so as to define a first spiral-shaped cavity and a second spiral-shaped cavity, such that when seen in a cross-section in a vertical plane, said first spiral-shaped cavity and said second spiral-shaped cavity constitute said plurality of evaporation pockets and said plurality of condensation pockets which are interdigitated, such that the plurality of evaporation pockets is part of the first cavity and is accessible from a first side, said plurality of condensation pockets is accessible from a second side and is part of the second cavity, and wherein the separation barrier is at least substantially impermeable for a solute of an aqueous solution,

wherein an inner hollow cylinder is provided at its inside with a seal for sealing to a mounting means of a vessel,

wherein said first sheet material and said second sheet material are sealed together pairwise in a manner to combine the individual sheet materials into the separation barrier.

16. The disposable cartridge of claim 15 , wherein a first spacer grid and a second spacer grid are rolled up with the first sheet material and the second sheet materials, so that the first sheet material is present between the first spacer grid and the second spacer grid, wherein the first and second sheet materials are spaced apart by said first and second spacer grids.

17. The disposable cartridge of claim 15 , wherein the separation barrier comprises an impermeable layer that is impermeable for a solute of an aqueous solution and a wicking layer of hydrophilic material, wherein the first and second sheet materials are mutually reversed in the roll-up such that the wicking layer is exposed in the pockets accessible from the first side and the impermeable layer is exposed in the pockets accessible from the second side.

18. A method of assembly of the distillation stage of the distillation apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , comprising:

providing a disposable cartridge comprising the separation barrier present in the spiral configuration around the inner hollow cylinder and which separation barrier forms the plurality of evaporation pockets and the plurality of condensation pockets which are interdigitated, wherein said separation barrier comprises a first sheet material and a second sheet material which are rolled up and mutually separated so as to define a first spiral-shaped cavity and a second spiral-shaped cavity, such that when seen in a cross-section in a vertical plane, said first spiral-shaped cavity and said second spiral-shaped cavity constitute said plurality of evaporation pockets and said plurality of condensation pockets which are interdigitated, such that said plurality of evaporation pockets is part of the first spiral-shaped cavity and is accessible from a first side said plurality of condensation pockets is part of the second spiral-shaped cavity and is accessible from a second side, and wherein the separation barrier is is at least substantially impermeable for a solute of an aqueous solution,

wherein said first sheet material and said second sheet material are sealed together pairwise in a manner to combine the individual sheet materials into the separation barrier, and

inserting said cartridge into the vessel of the distillation stage of the distillation apparatus of claim 1 , such that the first side of said cartridge is arranged adjacent said evaporation chamber and the second side of said cartridge is arranged adjacent said condensation chamber.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein an outside of the cartridge is clamped within an outer wall or a further mounting means of the vessel.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the mounting means include a carrier means for carrying said inner hollow cylinder at a predefined height above a bottom of the condensation chamber in the vessel.