Textured Heat Transfer Surface for Distillation Boiling Stability

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing distillation and concentration processes face challenges in maintaining nucleate boiling, leading to eruptive boiling, thermal degradation, and contamination, which affect the quality of plant extracts and solvent recovery.

Innovation Solution

A distillation vessel with a heat transfer surface featuring a textured structure, characterized by surface features between 2.0 and 10.0 microns, is used to promote nucleate boiling, reduce superheating, and enhance heat transfer efficiency for alcohol solvent and plant extract mixtures.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a smooth heat transfer surface is used in distillation, then the device is easy to manufacture and clean, but nucleate boiling cannot be maintained and eruptive boiling occurs causing thermal degradation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenucleate boiling stabilityVSAvoidheat transfer surface preparation

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The heat transfer surface is prepared with microporous structures having pore sizes of 2.0-10.0 microns, which serve as nucleation sites for stable bubble formation. This porous structure maintains nucleate boiling reliability while the pores are small enough to prevent contaminant accumulation, resolving the contradiction between boiling stability and ease of maintenance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

Solution Approach 2:

The heat transfer surface is pre-treated with plasma or chemical etching to create the microporous structure before distillation begins. This preliminary action establishes the nucleation sites in advance, ensuring reliable nucleate boiling without requiring complex real-time control mechanisms during operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If high heat flux is applied to accelerate evaporation, then productivity increases, but thermal degradation of plant extracts occurs

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveevaporation rateVSAvoidthermal degradation

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The invention changes the physical parameters of the heat transfer surface by introducing microporous structures with specific pore sizes (2.0-10.0 microns). This parameter change allows the system to maintain high heat flux for productivity while the porous structure distributes heat more evenly and prevents localized overheating that causes thermal degradation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The heat transfer surface has non-uniform local properties with microporous regions distributed across the surface. These localized porous structures create specific nucleation sites that enhance heat transfer efficiency locally, allowing high overall evaporation rates while preventing the localized thermal runaway that leads to degradation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Power

If a textured surface with microporous structure is used, then heat transfer efficiency and nucleate boiling are improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveheat transfer efficiencyVSAvoidheat transfer surface structure

Core Design Contradiction:

PowerVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention replaces complex mechanical control systems with a passive microporous surface structure. Instead of using active control mechanisms to maintain nucleate boiling, the microporous surface provides inherent nucleation sites that passively stabilize boiling, reducing device complexity while maintaining high heat transfer efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The textured surface design stabilizes nucleate boiling, reduces eruptive boiling, minimizes thermal degradation, and improves the quality and recovery efficiency of plant extracts and solvents, maintaining efficient evaporation and solvent recovery.

Implementation Method 1

nucleate boiling occurs at the plurality of surface features

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectNucleate boiling: Boiling

Implementation Method 2

improving heat transfer during distillation and concentration of extract

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectHeat transfer: Conduction (thermal)

Implementation Method 3

reduce superheating, and enhance heat transfer efficiency

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectSuperheating reduction: Superheating

Implementation Method 4

distillation and concentration of extract with solvent

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectDistillation: Distillation

Implementation Method 5

coupling the distillation vessel with a collector configured to collect condensed alcohol

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectCondensation: Condensation

Data Source

PatentUS11566856B2Heat transfer for extract distillation

Publication Date: 2023.01.31 EXTRACTCRAFT LLC

AI summary

A method for improving heat transfer during distillation and concentration of extract with solvent includes providing a distillation vessel having a heat transfer surface and preparing the heat transfer surface with a plurality of surface features. A distillation and concentration system includes a distillation vessel having a heat transfer surface prepared with a plurality of surface features in accordance with the method.