Importance

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Abstract

An evaporation or distillation apparatus uses one or more tubes driven to wobble about a vertical wobble axis that is aligned with the tube. A fluid distributor supplies a fluid to the inner surface of the wobbling tube at its upper end. A flexible whip rod located at least in part within the tube slides around over the inner surface as the tube wobbles. The pressure generated between the wobbling whip rod and the tube spreads the incoming fluid stream into a very thin film having a uniform thickness over the entire length of the tube. In the preferred form the whip rod is anchored at its lower end to a stationary base and is restrained against rotation about its own longitudinal axis, but is sufficiently flexible at its lower end to act as a universal joint. In this preferred form the whip rod has a flexible core surrounded by at least one length of tubular sheathing. The anchor point is preferably centered on either the wobble axis or, where the base is a container wall that moves in unison with the tube, the center of the tube. In the latter form, a fluid distributor mounted on the container above the tube distributes fluid to the tube using the centrifugal force of the wobbling motion to direct the fluid inlet stream. In another embodiment the whip rod is hollow and conducts the fluid to its upper end where the rapid, circular motion of the whip rod distributes the fluid to the inner surface of the tube where it then flows downwardly along the contact line between the whip rod and the tube.

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First Claim