(IO)  Patent No.:  US 8,092,656 B2  Jan.10,2012  (45)  Date of Patent:  c12)  United States Patent  Minnich et al.  (54)  METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HIGH  EFFICIENCY EVAPORATION OPERATION  (75)  Inventors:  Keith R. Minnich,  Pewaukee, WI (US);  Ramkumar Karlupudi,  Waukesha, WI  (US);  Richard M. Schoen,  Hartland, WI  (US)  (73)  Assignee:  Aquatech International Corporation,  Cannonsburg, PA (US)  ( *)  Notice:  Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis  patent is extended or adjusted under 35  U.S.C. 154(b) by 1075 days.  (21)  Appl. No.:  10/531,752  (22)  PCT Filed:  Oct. 17, 2003  (Under 37 CFR 1.47)  (86)  PCT No.:  PCT/US03/33066  § 371 (c)(l),  (2), ( 4) Date:  Jun.12,2006  (87)  PCT Pub. No.:  WO2004/035479  (60)  Provisional application No. 60/419,549, filed on Oct.  18, 2002, provisional application No. 60/419,552,  filed on Oct. 18, 2002.  (51)  Int. Cl.  (52)  U.S. Cl.  .......  203/10;  159/49; 159/901; 159/DIG. 8;  203/12; 203/72; 203/84; 203/88; 203/89;  203/98; 210/639; 210/664; 210/665; 210/681;  210/687; 210/718; 210/737; 210/774; 210/806  (58)  Field of Classification Search  ................... 159/2.1,  159/24.1, 49, 901, DIG. 8, DIG. 13, DIG. 27,  159/DIG. 28; 203/10, 12, 39, 40, 72, 84,  203/88, 89, 98; 210/634, 639, 660, 664,  210/665,681,685, 687,713,718,737,774,  210/806; 423/659  See application file for complete search history.  (56)  References Cited  U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS  (57)  ABSTRACT  15 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets  (65)  Prior Publication Data  Related U.S. Application Data  2,807,582 A  9/1957 Applebaum  4,036,749  A  *  7/1977 Anderson ..................... 210/638  BOID 1124  BOJD3/28  C02F 1108  C02F 1120  C02F 1142  C02F 1166  (2006.01)  (2006.01)  (2006.01)  (2006.01)  (2006.01)  (2006.01)  US008092656B2  (Continued)  Primary Examiner  - Virginia Manoharan  (74)  Attorney, Agent, or Firm  -Andrus, Sceales, Starke &  Sawall, LLP  A  process for treatment of an aqueous stream to produce a low  solute containing distillate stream and a high solute/solids  containing blowdown stream utilizing a method to increase  the efficiency of an evaporator while providing an essentially  scale free environment for the heat transfer surface. Multi› valent ions and non-hydroxide alkalinity are removed from  aqueous feed streams to very low levels and then the pH is  increased preferably to about 9 or higher to increase the  ionization oflow ionizable constituents in the aqueous solu› tion. In this manner, species such as silica and boron become  highly ionized, and their solubility in the concentrated solu› tion that is present in the evaporation equipment is signifi› cantly increased. The result of this is high allowable concen› tration factors and a corresponding increase in the recovery of  high quality reusable water with essentially no scaling.  US 2008/0099154 Al  May 1, 2008  PCT Pub. Date:  Apr. 29, 2004  :r"  :  ’  " 