How MicroEVAP(TM) Works:

The MicroEVAP(TM) water purification system is able to process polluted water from any source with a low-pressure, low-temperature; tornado induced rapid-evaporation technology to treat contaminated water without chemicals, filters, or membranes. The system is designed to be ultralow in maintenance, has few moving parts, and is adaptable for scalability. It has been demonstrated to remove 95% of the contaminants at 95% throughput efficiency. The water purification technology which is based on a single pass, closed loop, mechanical vapor compression process that integrates an innovative tornadic air/water vapor flow field to achieve vaporization of a feed water stream. A blower-driven airflow is pushed through a closed loop. Within the loop is a fixed geometry that induces a tornadic vortex in the flow. At this point feed water is injected into the vortex and immediately sheared into micron size droplets, forming water vapor in the air stream. This innovative use of a turbulent tornadic flow to achieve vaporization is a significant differentiator from more conventional evaporative processes which use laminar flows. The initial pilot unit, which is currently being built, is powered by a diesel engine for use in the Appalachian coalfields for cleaning acid mine drainage (AMD) contaminated feedwater. Future development will focus on an unit that is powered by electricity.

What is the MicroEVAP(TM) Innovation:

The MicroEVAP(TM) innovation is found in the mechanical vaporization process in which the feed water is injected into the low pressure, high velocity, outer region of a hot air vortex and is sheared into micron-size droplets, increasing the temperature of the water and the surface area of the water that is exposed to the air flow thus vaporizing the droplets at a relatively low temperature. The water vapor leaving the vortex evaporator is maintained at 100% saturation.

How MicroEVAP(TM) will be Produced:

It is planned that system production will entail a strategy of: 1) in-house fabrication of the tornadic evaporator pod; 2) the purchase of off-the-shelf components (i.e., blower and motor); 3) contract manufacturing of the supporting subsystems (i.e., condenser and intercoolers); and in-house assembly of the integrated system. A prototype MicroEVAP(TM) system is currently being built. Three images have been uploaded showing; a top view CAD drawing of the system, a CAD drawing of the completed system, and an image of the current prototype being assembled.

Where MicroEVAP(TM) will be Applied:

MicroEVAP(TM) requires no chemical pre-treatment or membranes and is self-contained, requiring no on-site waste heat supply. The current pilot system design has the ability to purify a range of contaminated source water types without modification at an estimated throughput of 1500 gallons per day. These characteristics allow the MicroEVAP(TM) technology to target a broad spectrum of applications including; AMD, ultra high total dissolved solids, suspended solids, chemicals, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, and metals. Accordingly, Micronic Technologies is currently considering five potential markets; AMD remediation, purifying hydraulic fracturing produced water, agricultural and public wastewater sidestreaming, removal of pharmaceuticals from drinking water, and extraction/recycling of rare earth elements from AMD.