Quote:
Originally Posted by MattCollins
The basic idea is to use a heat source that would not otherwise boil water at atmospheric pressure (or produce a low yield) and lower the atmospheric pressure to a point below the "vapour pressure" of water at that temperature. Clear as mud.
Mine is a 14m2 parabolic on a tracker (left over from a solar steam generator project). The hot section is a 1.2m long, 60cm diameter insulated cylinder including the collector, evaporator and condenser - not much to see. Raw water is sprayed directly onto a "hot plate" about half way up the cylinder where it flashes to steam under partial vacuum and is drawn off by the vacuum pump. Think vacuum cleaner type pump - that is all it is really. Vapour is passed to a condenser where it is cooled by feed water which gets a boost prior to entering the evaporator.
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This is a similar principle to some of the Absorption Chiller Products that we manufacture and service - obviously the goal with these is to generate Cooling Water and remove heat - using lithium bromide solution with a hot water or steam cycle. We are seeing a greater demand for this type of system - especially for sites with a large abundance of Hot Water or Steam as a By-Product.