Method and apparatus for heating, concentrating and evaporating fluid
A system and method are provided for heating, concentrating and/or evaporating a fluid by heating the fluid in a heating subsystem comprising a rotary heating device, such as a water brake dynamometer, and then evaporating all or a portion of the fluid in an evaporation subsystem and/or concentrating the fluid in a concentration subsystem.
1. A method of evaporating a fluid, comprising:
providing a prime mover adapted to generate rotational kinetic energy and thermal energy;
coupling a dynamometer to the prime mover so that rotational kinetic energy is transferred to the dynamometer;
circulating a first fluid through the dynamometer to impart thermal energy to the fluid;
circulating the first fluid through at least one heat exchanger adapted to transfer thermal energy of the prime mover to the fluid;
circulating the fluid through at least a second heat exchanger;
passing a second fluid through the at least second heat exchanger to transfer thermal energy from the first fluid to the second fluid thereby heating the second fluid;
flashing the second fluid into its vapor and liquid phases;
providing a holding tank adapted to contain the liquid and vapor phases of the second fluid;
providing a fluid-to-air condenser in fluid communication with the tank for condensing a portion of the second fluid vapor by passing air across the condenser to transfer thermal energy from the vapor to the air; and
providing an evaporation chamber in fluid communication with the tank for evaporating a portion of the second fluid liquid with the heated air.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamometer is a water brake dynamometer.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid is a water-based mixture.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover is an internal combustion engine.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the internal combustion engine is a natural gas engine.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising heating the air with thermal energy from a cooling system of the internal combustion engine.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing unevaporated fluid from the evaporation chamber.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising disposing of the unevaporated fluid.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising evaporating at least 80% of the fluid introduced into the evaporation chamber.
10. A method of concentrating a fluid, comprising:
providing a prime mover adapted to generate rotational kinetic energy and thermal energy;
coupling a dynamometer to the prime mover so that rotational kinetic energy is transferred to the dynamometer;
circulating a first fluid through the dynamometer to impart thermal energy to the fluid;
circulating the first fluid through at least one heat exchanger adapted to transfer thermal energy of the prime mover to the fluid;
circulating the fluid through at least a second heat exchanger;
passing a second fluid through the at least second heat exchanger to transfer thermal energy from the first fluid to the second fluid thereby heating the second fluid;
flashing the second fluid into its vapor and liquid phases;
providing a holding tank adapted to contain the liquid and vapor phases of the second fluid;
providing a condenser in fluid communication with the tank for condensing a portion of the second fluid vapor;
condensing the second fluid vapor to its liquid phase; and
extracting at least a portion of the condensed vapor to thereby concentrated the second fluid.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the dynamometer is a water brake dynamometer.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first fluid is a water-based mixture.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the prime mover is an internal combustion engine.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the internal combustion engine is a diesel engine.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising using thermal energy from exhaust gasses of the internal combustion engine to heat the first fluid.