WO1995024956A1

WO1995024956A1 - Distillation apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1995024956A1
Application number: PCT/US1995/003158
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joel Bleth; Edward Strickland
Original assignee: Joel Bleth; Edward Strickland
Priority date: 1994-03-15
Filing date: 1995-03-14
Publication date: 1995-09-21
Also published as: AU1997495A

Abstract

An apparatus for distillation of water to improve its purity which comprises a pan (10) in which water may be heated to above its vaporization temperature, a cover (22) above said pan, which cover (22) contains an opening (30) permitting steam to pass through and above said cover (22), a cooling surface (28) to condense the steam. Distilled water is recovered from a receptacle (20) on the upper side of said cover. The cooling surface is cooled by a thin layer of water on its upper surface (42) for absorbing the heat of the condensation of the steam.

Description

Distillation Apparatus

This invention provides an apparatus designed to distill water and more particularly it is a portable structure adapted for use with any heat sources for providing a pure water distillate.

Background of the Invention

Increasingly in the modern world the contamination of drinking water is becoming more and more of a problem. It is the purpose of this invention to make available an inexpensive water distillation device that can be used universally, making use of any convenient heat source to make pure drinking water available to one and all.

While various domestic water purification means are available, the known equipment provides either an elaborate apparatus or less than perfect carbon or other filtration systems. The conventional water vaporizing types of water distillation apparatus are not readily portable or universally adapted for use with all available heat sources such as electricity, gas, oil, coal, wood burning or other open fires.

With the filtration types of purifiers, the systems are not always able to remove all of the impurities present and in any event the filtering means must be frequently replaced or reconstituted for continuous operation.

Summary of the Invention

The present water purification or distillation means makes use of a boiler to receive the raw water to be vaporized, a condenser for cooling the steam to produce the desired distilled water and a collection system for holding the purified distilled water. The boiler can take the form of any water container adapted to be placed over a heat source for converting the contained raw water to steam. The condenser means for cooling the steam to produce the pure distilled water, is built integral with a receptacle that provides a reservoir positioned under the condenser. The bottom of the receptacle is positioned over the boiler to provide a cover for the boiler and is constructed to have an opening therein to direct the steam into the interior of the condenser receptacle. This steam opening is surrounded by an upwardly facing passageway that causes the steam to be directed upwardly against the condenser surface and also serves to retain the collected distilled water in the reservoir at the bottom of the condenser receptacle. A suitable outlet means including a spigot is provided to permit the collected distilled water to be removed from the reservoir as needed.

Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a distilling apparatus of this invention; and

Figure 2 is an alternate form of the invention.

Detailed Description

Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. While the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be changed witliout departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.

The boiler pan and condenser construction combination shown in the drawings includes a boiler pan 10 that is adapted to be mounted over any form of a heating source. In the drawing an electrical heating element 12 as shown but it is to be understood however that any suitable heat source may be used to boil the raw water 14 in the pan.

A screen 16 made of a standard 18 mesh material is supported in the boiler pan by floatation means 18 integral with the rim of the screen to hold the screen always spaced slightly above the surface of the liquid water in the pan. This screen is provided for a purpose that will appear more fully below.

A receptacle indicated by the arrow 20 having a bottom 22 that is sized to form a cover for the boiler pan 10, is supported over the boiler. The receptacle 20 is formed with the bottom 22, side wall 24 and a top wall generally indicated by the arrow 26. The top wall has a canaliculated pattern formed of the individual canals 28 to provide an enlarged exposed condenser wall surface that is cooled by the coolant 31 filled into the channels provided by this pattern.

The bottom 22 of the receptacle has a center opening 30 that is surrounded by an upstanding wall 30. The steam produced in the boiler pan flows upwardly through the opening into the condenser receptacle and is cooled by contact with the cooled surface of the canaliculated condenser surfaces 28. The cooling of the steam condenses it to produce the distilled water desired and the condensed water drips from the surfaces 28 to be collected on the bottom 22 of the receptacle between the peripheral wall 24 and the upstanding centrally positioned wall 32 to form a reservoir of purified water 34.

An outlet 32 is connected to the reservoir portion of the receptacle that is controlled by a suitable spigot means.

The several elements of the apparatus may be made of any of the usual materials used for making domestic cooking vessels such as steel, aluminum, or refractory glass. The parts should be made to fit closely together to avoid a wasteful escape of the steam produced in the boiler but a small opening or vent 38 may be used to permit the escape of any volatile impurities that are vaporized al temperatures less than 212°F.

When the boiler pan 10 has been filled with a charge of raw water 14 that is to be purified, coolant 31 has been added to the canals 28 and the device is placed over a suitable heat source, first the volatile impurities are driven off and then when the water has been brought to its boiling temperature, the expanding volume of steam will flow through the entrance opening 30 into the receptacle 20. When the steam comes in contact with the surface 28 it is cooled by the transfer of its latent heat of vaporization to the coolant

31 contained in the canals 28 of the condenser. The condensate is pure distilled water 34 that drips off of the surfaces of the channels 28 and is collected in the bottom zone of the receptacle 20. Any solid impurities in the raw water will remain in the boiler 10 from which they may be removed after a batch of water has been boiled and the steam produced has been condensed and collected in the reservoir.

The boiler pan 10 can be made of any size, but in practice for domestic use a boiler that .will hold about one and one-quarter gallons of raw water will be found to be quite useful for the production of about one gallon of purified distilled water.

The heat energy input to vaporize the water must be removed in the condenser to convert the steam back to distilled water. Therefore the coolant 31 contained in the canals 28 of the condenser is heated as the steam is being condensed on the surfaces 28. The canaliculated pattern of the condenser in the preferred form on the invention provides an expanded surface area designed to promote a very rapid transfer of the heat from the steam to the coolant, which heat is liberated from the steam when it is condensed. The canaliculated pattern exposes the water coolant 31 contained in the canals first to heat absorbed by the metal surface 28 of the condenser and the water in immediate contact with the inner surfaces of the condenser canals is thus heated as the distilled water is produced. This heated coolant water within the canals 28 circulates in the canals to flow upwardly and as it absorbs heat. In this process, the coolant water likewise is converted to steam which is allowed to escape into the atmosphere. The volume of the coolant fluid if water is used must be about equal to or a little more than the volume of the raw water that is being converted to distilled water. It has been established that wit h a stove top distilling means constructed as above described and placed on an electrically heated element on a conventional American electric stove, that the device will function to produce about one gallon of distilled water in about an hour and fifteen minutes with an input of 2400 watts to the burner.

The condenser distilled water stored in the reservoir 34 is collected in the normal running of the apparatus, it will retain heat to hold the distillate at a temperature of about 206°F. At this temperature, any volatile impurities that may pass into the receptacle 20 will be forced to exit the vent 38 without coming into contact with the purified water stored in the reservoir. The air originally contained in the receptacle at the start-up of the purification process as well as the volatile impurities is forced to exit form the receptacle through the vent and as the receptacle is thus cleared of these volatile compounds, the steam will ultimately be present at the vent hole. It has been found that when this occurs, the steam exposed to the outside air is cooled and is condensed to form a droplet of water that effectively seals the vent opening.

When solid impurities are present in the raw water supply as for example when lead is present as a solute in the water, the screen 16 is provided to intercept the passage of these impurities that might otherwise be entrained in the steam flow to the receptacle 20. It has been found that as the steam bubbles produced in the boiler pan flow to the surface of the water being boiled, that when these bubbles burst through the surface of the water, the explosion of the bubble produces millions of tiny raw water particles many of which could be carried along with the steam as it flows up through the opening 30 unless they are intercepted in their flight. The screen 16 provides an intercepting means for preventing these minute raw water particles from reaching and flowing through the opening 30 thereby eliminating the necessity for providing a charcoal or other type of filter to remove such solid particles that might otherwise escape with the flowing steam into the receptacle 20. As the steam bubbles burst underneath the screen 16, a portion of the tiny raw water particles from the bursting steam bubbles are projected against the underside of the screen so that the screen quickly becomes loaded with water that, due to its surface tension, fills the openings of the screen, the openings of which are of a size to encourage the water to bridge the space across the openings. When this horizontal curtain of water forms all over the open areas of the exposed screen surface, the temperature of which raw water curtain is 212°, the heat energy in the steam vapor which engages the underside of this water layer will vaporize the thin water layer that is continuously replaced by the water bubbles that continue to be intercepted by the screen without itself producing any water bubbles above the screen's surface so that, in effect, this raw water barrier on the screen permits the steam to pass through the screen openings while filtering out the raw water pai'ticles produced by the bursting steam bubbles that explode below the screen at the surface of the raw water in the boiler.

The simplest form of the invention makes use of a single canaliculated condenser surface as shown in Figure 1. Additional condensing surface can be provided by making a structure as shown in Figure 2. In this device the boiler 10 described above can be fitted with a multi-tiered condenser unit such as is shown in Figure 2.

In Figure 2 the boiler 10 is provided with a screen 16, a cover 22 that has an aperture 30 that is surrounded by the upstanding wall 30 all as described above. The receptacle 20 for enclosing the condenser means is divided into two condenser chambers by the condensate collecting surface 40 supported under the upper condenser surface 42 that supports the body of coolant 44.

Another lower condenser surface 46 is also built into the receptacle 20 that supports the body of coolant 48. The coolant body 48 is contained above the lower condensing surface 46, the side wall of the receptacle 20 and the upstanding wall element 50.

The wall element 50 connects an aperture in the lower cooling surface with an aperture in the condensate collecting surface 40 to convey steam produced in the boiler to the upper condenser surface 40. The diameter of the upstanding wall 50 is larger than the diameter of the upstanding wall 32 that is integral with the bottom 22 of the condenser receptacle so that all the condensate falling onto the collecting surface can flow into the distillate collecting reservoir 34.

Any suitable outlet means may be provided to remove the distilled water from the reservoir 34 as described above.

Between the upper surface of the coolant body 48 and the underside of the condensate collecting plate 40 a plurality of vent openings are provided in wall of the receptacle 20 to permit the vaporized coolant to escape from above the surface of the coolant body 48 as the distilling process progresses.

Although a canaliculated condenser surface has been described in connection with the preferred forms of the invention disclosed herein, it is obvious that any shape of a cooled surface can be utilized to condense the steam flowing upwardly into the condenser receptacle as the distillation process proceeds.

While the above describes the preferred form of our invention, modifications thereof may occur to those skilled in the art that will fall within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A distillation apparatus for purifying water including a boiler and condenser means including a boiler pan for containing raw water to be vaporized to form steam, said boiler being adapted to be positioned over a heat source and a condenser having an exposed cooling surface positioned above said pan which condenser is adapted to convert said steam to distilled water comprising a cover for said pan to contain the steam produced by heating the raw water contained therein, said cover having an opening therein for the passage of said steam to said condenser, an upstanding passageway above said cover and sealed to said cover for surrounding said opening for directing the steam upwardly toward said cooled surface of said condenser to be condensed to produce said distilled water, and means to direct said condenser distilled water away from said apparatus.

2. A distillation apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said cover has an upper surface shaped to receive and collect said distilled water.

3. A distillation apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said cover is shaped to form a container to receive and collect said distilled water.

4. An apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said condenser is positioned to form said cover for said container.

5. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said condenser includes a receptacle for holding a coolant for cooling its exposed cooled surface.

6. An apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said cooled surface of said receptacle has a canaliculated form to expand its surface area.

7. An apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said coolant is water.

8. An apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said coolant is water.

9. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said cover and said condenser are integral with a wall to form a closed container that is adapted to be supported over said pan.

10. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein a screen is mounted in said pan over said raw water and under said cover.

11. An apparatus as in claim 10 wherein said screen is a fine mesh having openings of a size to hold water dispersed by its surface tension in a manner to close said openings.

12. An apparatus as in claim 10 wherein said condenser is positioned to form said cover for said container.

13. An apparatus as in claim 10 wherein said cover and said condenser are integral with a wall to form a closed container that is adapted to be supported over said pan.

14. An apparatus as in claim 1 1 wherein said condenser is positioned to form a cover for said container.

15. An apparatus as in claim 11 wherein said cover and said condenser are integral with a wall to form a closed container that is adapted to be supported over said pan.

16. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein volatile gaseous impurities are freed from said raw water at temperatures below 212°F and said condenser has a vent for permitting volatile gaseous impurities to escape.

17. An apparatus as in claim 4 wherein volatile gaseous impurities are freed from said raw water at temperatures below 212°F and said condenser has a vent for permitting volatile gaseous impurities to escape.

18. An apparatus as in claim 9 wherein volatile gaseous impurities are freed from said raw water at temperatures below 212°F and said wall is provided with an aperture to vent said gaseous impurities from said container.

19. An apparatus as in claim 11 wherein volatile gaseous impurities are freed from said raw water at temperatures below 212°F and said condenser has a vent to release said gaseous impurities to the atmosphere.

20. A domestic water distillation apparatus including a boiler for vaporizing a raw water supply to form steam and a condenser for supporting a coolant for producing distilled water by condensing said steam to a liquid comprising a boiler in the form of a bowl for containing the raw water being boiled to produce said steam; said condenser being adapted to be mounted over said bowl; said condenser being a closed receptacle having an inlet and an outlet that is formed with a bottom wall, side wall and top wall; said bottom wall having an inlet opening therein for admitting steam into said receptacle; an upstanding inlet passageway integral with said bottom leading from said opening into said receptacle; said top wall having a canaliculated shape for containing said coolant stored therein; whereby said steam flowing into said closed receptacle may be cooled to produce the distilled water that is collected over said bottom wall.

21. An apparatus as in claim 20 wherein said receptacle has an outlet passageway connected thereto whereby said condenser serves as reservoir means for storing said distilled water.

22. A water distilling device including a boiler for containing raw water to be heated to form steam and a condenser for liquifying the steam to produce a distilled water condensate comprising receptacle means for enclosing said condenser supported over said boiler; said receptacle having a bottom, side wall means and cooling surface means arranged above said bottom; said bottom having an aperture therein and an upstanding wall within said receptacle that surrounds said aperture for admitting steam produced in said boiler into said receptacle; said bottom said side wall means and said upstanding wall forming a reservoir for said condensate; said cooling surface means and said side wall means forming a container for supporting coolant means for liquifying said steam by absorbing heat through said cooling surface means whereby when said steam is produced in said boiler it can be liquified and said condensate can be collected in said reservoir.

23. A water distilling device as in claim 22 wherein said cooling surface means includes two vertically spaced apart lower and upper surface areas, the lowermost of said surface areas having an aperture therein, said last named aperture having a second upstanding wall within said receptacle that surrounds said aperture in said lowermost of said surface areas, said last named aperture being larger than said aperture in said bottom, and a condensate collecting surface means disposed under said upper surface area and bet ween said coolant means contained above said lowermost cooling surface area, vent port means in said side wall above the coolant contained above said lowermost cooling surface area said collecting surface being formed integral with the upper end of said second upstanding wall said first named aperture and second named apertures being positioned in concentric vertical alignment whereby condensate from said upper surface area can be directed to flow into said reservoir.

24. A water distilling device as in claim 22 wherein said cooling surface means has a canaliculated shape.

25. A water distilling device as in claim 23 wherein said cooling surface means has a canaliculated shape.