Apparatus for continuous thermal separation of a multi-component substance

Abstract

A separation apparatus for continuous thermal separation of a substance is fed into a treatment chamber. The substance includes two or more components where at least one of the components is evaporable at an evaporation temperature (T). The separation apparatus includes a vessel including a vessel wall with an inner surface enclosing the treatment chamber having a length I, a height H and a width W, a substance inlet for feeding the substance into the treatment chamber, a first outlet for releasing non--evaporated parts of the substance from the treatment chamber, a second outlet for releasing evaporated parts of the substance from the treatment chamber, and a rotary mechanism. The rotary mechanism includes a rotatable axle arranged within the treatment chamber having an orientation directed along the treatment chamber's length L and a mixing device fixed to, and extending perpendicular from, the rotatable axle. A radial outermost part of the mixing device includes a plurality of radially separated mixing protrusions, a rotary drive operatively connected to the rotatable axis, and a heating device arranged outside the treatment chamber. The heating device is configured to transfer thermal energy to a minimum peripheral volume (Vp) of the treatment chamber via the inner surface. The minimum peripheral volume (V) is defined as a volume between the inner surface and outer radial boundaries of the mixing device. The mixing device includes a plurality of rotary discs fixed with axial offsets to the rotatable axle. The heating device and the rotary drive are configured such that, when both the heating device and the rotary drive are operated at their respective operational input powers (P, P), a resulting operational temperature (T) is obtained within at least part of the minimum peripheral volume (V) which is equal or higher than the evaporation temperature (T).